Abstract
Sulfonated hollow silica spheres (HSS‐S) are synthesized and applied in supercapacitors as acid‐filling and acid‐releasing agents in a polymer matrix, thanks to their unique architecture wherein the hollow spheres can be filled with acid (HSS‐S‐F) and can be dispersed in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with various weight fractions to produce nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs), HSS‐S/PVA, and HSS‐S‐F/PVA. The symmetrical supercapacitor device is assembled using an active carbon(AC) electrode and the GPE HSS‐S‐F/PVA shows a specific capacitance value of 147 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. Alternatively, the GPE HSS‐S/PVA shows a specific capacitance of 52 F g−1 at the same current density. The symmetrical supercapacitor based on HSS‐S‐F/PVA has a high‐energy density of 20.40 W·h kg−1 at a power density of 545 W kg−1 with a remarkable cyclic stability with a loss of only 15% after 2250 charge–discharge cycles. This excellent property demonstrates that HSS‐S is a promising additive and has the potential to produce more efficient energy storage devices by changing the hollow particle size, pore size, and using different host polymer electrolytes.
Herein, a novel approach to fabricate composite gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) including poly(vinyl alcohol) and functional hollow silica spheres (HSS) is described. This method shows a simple and effective route for construction of high‐performance energy storage devices with different GPE materials with the potential for large‐scale applications.