Green supercapacitor patterned by synthesizing MnO/laser-induced-graphene hetero-nanostructures on wood via femtosecond laser pulses

Abstract

Eco-friendly next-generation energy storage devices with high energy density are required to meet the increasing demand for sustainable and green electronics. However, their manufacturing requires a lot of chemical precursors and is usually accompanied by chemical waste; it also involves laborious and time-consuming processes such as mixing, heat treating, casting, and drying. Here, we proposed that mass production of microsupercapacitors (MSCs) for green electronics can be achieved by embedding manganese monoxide (MnO) on wood-derived laser-induced-graphene (LIG) via femtosecond laser direct writing (FsLDW) technique. The direct synthesis of MnO/LIG hetero-nanostructures on wood was realized by drop-casting a small amount of precursor between the first and second FsLDW. The preceding FsLDW thermochemically converted wood into LIG while the following FsLDW converted the precursor into MnO, resulting in MnO/LIG hetero-nanostructures. As-fabricated MnO/LIG MSC exhibited enhanced areal capacitance (35.54 mF cm⁻² at 10 mV s⁻¹) and capacitance retention (approximately 82.31% after 10,000 cycles) with only a small inclusion of Mn sources (0.66 mg cm⁻²) and short production time (10 min cm⁻²), which attributes to operate light-emitting diodes, digital clocks, and electronic paper as well. This approach enables the green, facile, fast, and cost-effective fabrication of future sustainable energy storage devices from biomass for next-generation green electronics.

Highlights

•	MnO/LIG based high-density energy storage devices were fabricated on natural wood.
•	Fabrication process was eco-friendly, which required a precursor up to 0.66 mg cm−2.
•	2.50 times enhancement of areal capacitance at a current density of 1000 µA cm−2.
•	Microsupercapacitor synthesis time was fast up to 10 min cm−2.
•	It was a facile process via a femtosecond laser.

Keywords

Laser-induced graphene / Green energy storage / Microsupercapacitors / Laser direct writing / Ultrafast pulse / Biomass

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Funding

National Research Foundation of the Republic of Korea(2021R1A4A1031660); Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry(321077-2); Korea Forest Service(2023488B10-2325-AA01); KAIST(G-core project); National Research Foundation of Korea(RS-2023-00217581)