Poly (acrylic acid)/Chitosan hydrogel with excellent self-healing properties for supercapacitor electrodes using PbS/Ti3C2Tx heterostructure as conductive fillers

Being a natural polymer with good biocompatibility and biodegradability, chitosan (CS) is often designed as dual-network conductive hydrogel material. This is especially promising in the field of stretchable and flexible supercapacitors. The PbS/Ti3C2Tx heterostructure is incorporated into the PAA/CS (PC) hydrogel using a two-step method, in which multiple hydrogen bonding interactions are constructed enable the PAA/CS/PbS/ Ti3C2Tx (PCPT) conductive hydrogel electrode material to possess a self-healing efficiency of up to 93% at room temperature. It also has a rich 3D pore structure that allows the PCPT conductive hydrogel electrode to reach specific capacitance of 77.05 F/g at a current density of 10 mA/g. Even after 2000 cycles at a high current density of 200 mA/g, the specific capacitance remains at 89% of its original value. It has offered a new idea for the preparation of multiple-action self-healing electrode materials.