Dimitrios Loufakis¹, James G Boyd¹, Zachary M Powell¹, Alejandro I Martinez¹, Jodie L Lutkenhaus¹, Dimitris C Lagoudas¹; ¹Texas A&M University

Mechano-electrochemical coupling performance of structural supercapacitor electrodes was explored using a novel testing method, providing new insights for structural energy and power materials. Structural energy and power combines load-bearing and energy storage functions into a single multifunctional material. Studying mechano-electrochemical coupling of such materials is vital, since the energy storage capabilities may be affected by mechanical loads, and vice versa. However, there are few such studies in the literature. In this work, a custom-built instrument was developed to perform in-situ electrochemical measurements under tension, i.e., independently controlled cyclic voltammograms and stress-strain curves were acquired simultaneously. Additionally, tensile tests were performed under various states of charge. The mechano-electrochemical coupling experiments were performed on nanocomposite structural supercapacitor electrodes consisting of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and aramid nanofibers (ANF). This study shows minimal degradation in specific capacitance until mechanical failure, indicating that the mechanical deformation does not impede electric double layer formation.