Direct prototyping of 3D micro supercapacitors based on in-situ fabricated nanoporous carbon electrodes

We present the direct prototyping of three-dimensional (3D) micro supercapacitors using nanoporous carbon electrodes that are in-situ fabricated on chips. The approach successfully incorporates nano templating method into photolithography technology for the first time, so that functional electrodes are prepared from directly photo patterned precursor. Two preliminary prototypes with different electrode configurations are tested and show specific capacitances of more than 5mFcm^-2, which is comparable to existing micro supercapacitors. The novel method allows for scalable design and batch fabrication of energy storage devices and full integration of them into micro systems.