Design and Development of Flexible Elastomer for Energy Storage

With the advent of technology, energy consumption has soared around the world. Efficient energy storage to meet demand in remote locations and applied industries has increased significantly. Compact and flexible energy storage media are desirable nowadays to meet the required energy demand. The electrode and electrolytic medium of the storage device will be subjected to deformation and therefore must be robust and resistant. A conductive, high strength and flexible elastomer was developed using reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanocomposite as filler and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as binding material. The morphological analysis, mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the developed flexible elastomer were investigated for supercapacitor application. It was found that the 5% (wt%) doped nanocomposite exhibited better electrical and mechanical properties.