A Study of Metal Free Supercapacitors Using 3D Printing

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2018. Metal-free supercapacitors were designed and fabricated using a 3D printing process. An attempt was made to use carbon conductive paint to create both current collector and electrode. Two 3D printing techniques were combined and used to manufacture the electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs). The electrode material made from carbon conductive paint and distilled water showed a good electrical performance. The manufacturing process for the EDLCs has been explained in detail and the process showed a good reproducibility. Different thicknesses of electrode were tested and characterized. The results showed that both the mass of the electrode material and the capacitance of the supercapacitor increased as the thickness of the active layer increased. The thickness of the electrode increased 4 times from 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm, the mass of the electrode material increased nearly 3 times from 0.514 g to 1.498 g, which resulted in the increase of capacitance from 0.133 F to 0.295 F.