Advanced Porous\nGold-PANI Micro-Electrodes for High-Performance\nOn-Chip Micro-Supercapacitors

Abstract

The downsizing of microscale energy storage devices is\ncrucial\nfor powering modern on-chip technologies by miniaturizing electronic\ncomponents. Developing high-performance microscale energy devices,\nsuch as micro-supercapacitors, is essential through processing smart\nelectrodes for on-chip structures. In this context, we introduce porous\ngold (Au) interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) as current collectors for\nmicro-supercapacitors, using polyaniline as the active material. These\nporous Au IDE-based symmetric micro-supercapacitors (P-SMSCs) show\na remarkable enhancement in charge storage performance, with a 187%\nincrease in areal capacitance at 2.5 mA compared to conventional flat\nAu IDE-based devices, despite identical active material loading times.\nOur P-SMSCs achieve an areal capacitance of 60 mF/cm²,\na peak areal energy density of 5.44 μWh/cm², and\nan areal power of 2778 μW/cm², surpassing most reported\nSMSCs. This study advances high-performance SMSCs by developing highly\nporous microscale planar current collectors, optimizing microelectrode\nuse, and maximizing capacity within a compact footprint.