Zinc ion hybrid supercapacitor typed pressure sensor for wearable multifunctional electronic device

In order to meet the development needs of wearable electronic products in the future, people have been trying to build multi-functional flexible pressure sensing devices. However, it is still challenging to design a wearable one-body pressure sensing system that is cost-effective, safe, environmentally friendly and self-powered. Herein, a novel wearable self-powered quasi-solid-state (QSS) zinc ion hybrid supercapacitor (ZIHSC) typed pressure sensor (PS) was designed with the capacitor-type Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) cathode, ZnSO4-polyacrylamide-hydrogel electrolyte and graphite paper@zinc anode. The aqueous ZIHSC shows remarkable electrochemical performance with high capacitance of 165.2 mF cm−2, high energy density of 66.3 μWh cm−2, high power density of 1785 μW cm−2 and long lifespan of 99.3% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles. More encouragingly, the ZIHSC typed PS exhibits two functions of energy storage and sensing. On the one hand, it shows the electrochemical performance comparable to that of aqueous ZIHSC. On the other hand, it displays excellent pressure sensing performance with wide pressure detection range (1–110 kPa) and short response time (＜300 ms). This work not only confirms that the PEDOT:PSS is a promising capacitor-type material for ZIHSC, but also provides a reference for the development of new-generation wearable multifunctional electronic devices.