Inkjet-printed flexible planar Zn-MnO2 battery on paper substrate

Abstract Energy storage devices (ESD) which are intended to power electronic devices, used in close contact of human skin, are desirable to be safe and non-toxic. In light of this requirement, Zn based energy storage devices seem to provide a viable pathway as they mostly employ aqueous based electrolytes which are safe and non-toxic in their functioning. Additionally, having a flexible ESD will play a crucial role as it will enable the ESD to conform to the varying shapes and sizes of wearable electronics which they energize. In this work, we have developed an inkjet-printed Zinc ion battery (IPZIB) with planar electrode configuration over bond paper substrate. Zn has been used as the negative electrode, MnO2 is used as the positive electrode with Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) as the active binder. Conducting tracks of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are used to construct the current collector on the paper substrate. The fabricated IPZIB delivered a high discharge capacity of 300.14 mAh g−1 at a current density of 200 mA g−1. The energy density of the IPZIB is observed as 330.15 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 220 W kg−1 and retains an energy density of 94.36 Wh kg−1 at a high power density of 1650 W kg−1. Finally, we have demonstrated the capability of the IPZIB to power a LED at various bending and folding conditions which indicates its potential to be used in the next generation flexible and wearable electronic devices.