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Abstract: Achieving a high areal capacity is essential for the transfer of outstanding laboratory electrode results to commercial applications and also to ensure there exists a capacity matched cathode and anode for a properly tuned battery. Despite intensive efforts, most electrode materials exhibit areal capacities lower than that of the graphite anodes (4 mA h cm−2). An effective and low‐cost approach is reported to attain a high areal capacity via an intense densification by compacting a porous carbon nanotube sponge grafted with Co3O4 nanoparticles. The hybrid sponge can be compacted to a large degree (up to a tenfold densification) while still keeping its structural integrity and the 3D porous network. This method allows achieving a mass loading of up ‑to 14.3 mg cm−2 and an areal capacity of 12 mA h cm−2 (at a current density of 200 mA g−1) together with a gravimetric capacity of >800 mA h g−1. This densification by compaction approach offers an effective and low‐cost strategy to develop high mass loading and areal capacity electrodes for practical energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With wearable electronics rapidly coming into fashion, research into flexible energy storage devices and in particular, pliable electrodes, is attracting a lot of attention. Pliable electrodes are usually fabricated by intercalating an active material in a flexible matrix with superior mechano-electrical properties, and can be grouped either as substrate-supported or free-standing. Depending on their mode of deformation the electrodes can be labeled as bendable, compressible or stretchable. Recent progress and challenges in the design and fabrication of pliable electrodes for constructing flexible lithium ion batteries and flexible supercapacitors are highlighted. 2 pliable core-shell structure electrodes fabricated from: a) carbon nanotube sponge embedded with MoS2 nanoparticles and b) electrospun polyethylene terephthalate fibers impregnated with graphene nanoplatelets are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]