Hierarchically Structured Three-Dimensional Carbon-Based Integrated Electrodes with Enhanced Pseudocapacitance and Deformability

Compressible supercapacitors play an increasingly significant role in flexible sensors and wearable electronic devices.However,the integration of mechanical compressibility and excellent electrochemical performance into a single device remains a challenge.Herein,we demonstrate a compressible and high-performance supercapacitor based on an N-doped carbon foam elastomer with hierarchical carbon nanotubes.Hierarchically structured Fe3C@N-doped carbon nanotubes/N-doped carbon foam and Ni@N-doped carbon nanotubes/N-doped carbon foam have been synthesized via a simple and universal self-catalytic strategy.The hierarchical structural features of self-catalytic N-doped carbon nanotubes serve as a cushion when the composite is subjected to an external force,exhibiting excellent mechanical properties with a maximum compressive strain of 80%and fatigue resistance of 1000 cycles.Moreover,the different electroactive potentials of the transition-metal species in the composites provide the assembly with a maximum operating voltage of 1.4 V,which shows a maximum energy density of∼10.74 Wh kg^(−1)(0.084 mWh cm^(−3))at the power density of∼179.2 W kg^(−1)(1.4 mWh cm^(−3)),and retains 88.4%of the original capacitance after 20,000 charge–discharge cycles,even at a strain of 80%.This work paves the way for controllable fabrication of compressible electrodes and supercapacitors.