Abstract
Due to the lack of in-depth understanding about the folding issues of the electronic materials, it is a huge challenge to prepare a super-foldable and highly electrochemical faradic electrode. Here, inspired from from the fully nimble structures of cuit cocoons and cockscomb petals, with two-level biomimetic design, for the first time we prepared a super-foldable and electrochemically functional freestanding cathode, made of C-fiber@NiS-cockscomb (SFCNi). In virtue of its nimble biomimetic structures, SFCNi can remarkably sustain over 100,000 times, repeated true-folding without composite fibers fracture, functional matters detachment, conductivity degradation, or electrochemical performance change. The main mechanism behind these behaviors was disclosed by Real-time scanning electron microscopy and mechanical simulations, on the folding process. Results unveil that the cockscomb-like NiS with atomic thickness can deform freely due to the need of bending, and the cuit-cocoon-like SFCNi can generate an “ε-shape” folding structure at the crease. Such a smart self-adaptive deformation capability can effectively reduce the effect of stresses and local excessive deformations, so that the chemical bonds can preserve their interaction, and the material won’t fracture. This subtle and exceptional mechanical behavior realizes a super-foldable property. The two-level biomimetic design strategy is a novel method for fabrication of super-foldable composite electrodes and integrated multi-functional super-foldable devices.
Graphical abstract
![](http://media.springernature.com/lw685/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42765-022-00162-7/MediaObjects/42765_2022_162_Figa_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42765-022-00162-7/MediaObjects/42765_2022_162_Fig1_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42765-022-00162-7/MediaObjects/42765_2022_162_Fig2_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42765-022-00162-7/MediaObjects/42765_2022_162_Fig3_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42765-022-00162-7/MediaObjects/42765_2022_162_Fig4_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs42765-022-00162-7/MediaObjects/42765_2022_162_Fig5_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References:
Gao W, Ota H, Kiriya D, Takei K, Javey A. Flexible electronics toward wearable sensing. Accounts Chem Res 2019;52:523.
Zhou Z, Chen K, Li X, Zhang S, Wu Y, Zhou Y, Meng K, Sun C, He Q, Fan W, Fan E, Lin Z, Tan X, Deng W, Yang J, Chen J. Sign-to-speech translation using machine-learning-assisted stretchable sensor arrays. Nat Electron 2020;3:571.
Yang Q, Wei T, Yin RT, Wu M, Xu Y, Koo J, Choi YS, **e Z, Chen SW, Kandela I, Yao S, Deng Y, Avila R, Liu T, Bai W, Yang Y, Han M, Zhang Q, Haney CR, Lee KB, Aras K, Wang T, Seo M, Luan H, Lee SM, Brikha A, Ghoreishi-Haack N, Tran L, Stepien I, Aird F, Waters EA, Yu X, Banks A, Trachiotis GD, Torkelson JM, Huang Y, Kozorovitskiy Y, Efimov IR, Rogers JA. Photocurable bioresorbable adhesives as functional interfaces between flexible bioelectronic devices and soft biological tissues. Nat Mater 2021;20:1559.
Wang S, Xu J, Wang W, Wang GN, Rastak R, Molina-Lopez F, Chung JW, Niu S, Feig VR, Lopez J, Lei T, Kwon S, Kim Y, Foudeh AM, Ehrlich A, Gasperini A, Yun Y, Murmann B, Tok JBH, Bao Z. Skin electronics from scalable fabrication of an intrinsically stretchable transistor array. Nature 2018;555:83.
Pomerantseva E, Bonaccorso F, Feng X, Cui Y, Gogotsi Y. Energy storage: the future enabled by nanomaterials. Science 2019;366:969.
Park S, Heo SW, Lee W, Inoue D, Jiang Z, Yu K, **no H, Hashizume D, Sekino M, Yokota T, Fukuda K, Tajima K, Someya T. Self-powered ultra-flexible electronics via nano-grating-patterned organic photovoltaics. Nature 2018;561:516.
Wang L, Zhang F, Liu Y, Leng J. Shape memory polymer fibers: materials, structures, and applications. Adv Fiber Mater 2021;4:5.
Wang G, Zhu M. Reversible fusion and fission of graphene oxide-based fibers. Adv Fiber Mater 2021;3:381.
Fu Z, Wang N, Legut D, Si C, Zhang Q, Du S, Germann TC, Francisco JS, Zhang R. Rational design of flexible two-dimensional MXenes with multiple functionalities. Chem Rev 2019;119:11980.
Keum K, Kim JW, Hong SY, Son JG, Lee S, Ha JS. Flexible/stretchable supercapacitors with novel functionality for wearable electronics. Adv Mater 2020;32:2002180.
Wu Z, Wang Y, Liu X, Lv C, Li Y, Wei D, Liu Z. Carbon-nanomaterial-based flexible batteries for wearable electronics. Adv Mater 2019;31:1800716.
Wen L, Li F, Cheng H. Carbon nanotubes and graphene for flexible electrochemical energy storage: from materials to devices. Adv Mater 2016;28:4306.
Zhang J, Kong N, Uzun S, Levitt A, Seyedin S, Lynch PA, Qin S, Han M, Yang W, Liu J, Wang X, Gogotsi Y, Razal JM. Scalable manufacturing of free-standing, strong Ti3C2TX MXene films with outstanding conductivity. Adv Mater 2020;32:2001093.
Chai S, Zan G, Dong K, Wu T, Wu Q. Approaching superfoldable thickness-limit carbon nanofiber membranes transformed from water-soluble PVA. Nano Lett 2021;21:8831.
Zan G, Wu T, Zhu F, He P, Cheng Y, Chai S, Wang Y, Huang X, Zhang W, Wan Y, Peng X, Wu Q. A biomimetic conductive super-foldable material. Matter 2021;4:3232.
Zan G, Wu T, Zhang Z, Li J, Zhou J, Zhu F, Chen H, Wen M, Yang X, Peng X, Chen J, Wu Q. Bioinspired nanocomposites with self-adaptive stress dispersion for super-foldable electrodes. Adv Sci 2022;9:2103714.
Iijima S, Brabec C, Maiti A, Bernholc J. Structural flexibility of carbon nanotubes. J Chem Phys 1996;104:2089.
Chen H, Zhang X, Zhang Y, Wang D, Bao D, Que Y, **ao W, Du S, Ouyang M, Pantelides ST. Atomically precise, custom-design origami graphene nanostructures. Science 2019;365:1036.
Schniepp HC, Kudin KN, Li J, Prud’Homme RK, Car R, Saville DA, Aksay IA. Bending properties of single functionalized graphene sheets probed by atomic force microscopy. ACS Nano 2008;2:2577.
Huang R, Huang M, Li X, An F, Koratkar N, Yu ZZ. Porous graphene films with unprecedented elastomeric scaffold-like folding behavior for foldable energy storage devices. Adv Mater 2018;30:1707025.
Yang Y, Ng S, Chen D, Chang J, Wang D, Shang J, Huang Q, Deng Y, Zheng Z. Freestanding lamellar porous carbon stacks for low-temperature-foldable supercapacitors. Small 2019;15:1902071.
Sun Y, Sills RB, Hu X, Seh ZW, **ao X, Xui H, Luo W, ** H, **n Y, Li T, Zhang Z, Zhou J, Cai W, Huang Y, Cui Y. A bamboo-inspired nanostructure design for flexible, foldable, and twistable energy storage devices. Nano Lett 2015;15:3899.
Li J, Shao Y, Shi Q, Hou C, Zhang Q, Li Y, Kaner RB, Wang H. Calligraphy-inspired brush written foldable supercapacitors. Nano Energy 2017;38:429.
Liu X, Zou S, Liu K, Lv C, Wu Z, Yin Y, Liang T, **e Z. Highly compressible three-dimensional graphene hydrogel for foldable all-solid-state supercapacitor. J Power Sources 2018;384:214.
Chen R, Hu Y, Shen Z, Pan P, He X, Wu K, Zhang X, Cheng Z. Facile fabrication of foldable electrospun polyacrylonitrile-based carbon nanofibers for flexible lithium-ion batteries. J Mater Chem A 2017;5:12914.
**ao P, Bu F, Yang G, Zhang Y, Xu Y. Integration of graphene, nano sulfur, and conducting polymer into compact, flexible lithium–sulfur battery cathodes with ultrahigh volumetric capacity and superior cycling stability for foldable devices. Adv Mater 2017;29:1703324.
Chen C, Cao J, Lu Q, Wang X, Song L, Niu Z, Chen J. Foldable all-solid-state supercapacitors integrated with photodetectors. Adv Funct Mater 2017;27:1604639.
Liu T, Zhang M, Wang YL, Wang QY, Lv C, Liu KX, Suresh S, Yin YH, Hu YY, Li YS, Liu XB, Zhong SW, **a BY, Wu ZP. Engineering the surface/interface of horizontally oriented carbon nanotube macrofilm for foldable lithium-ion battery withstanding variable weather. Adv Energy Mater 2018;8:1802349.
Li L, Wu ZP, Sun H, Chen D, Gao J, Suresh S, Chow P, Singh CV, Koratkar N. A foldable lithium–sulfur battery. ACS Nano 2015;9:11342.
Mao Y, Li G, Guo Y, Li Z, Liang C, Peng X, Lin Z. Foldable interpenetrated metal-organic frameworks/carbon nanotubes thin film for lithium–sulfur batteries. Nat Commun 2017;8:14628.
Qin Q, Liu J, Mao W, Xu C, Lan B, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Yan J, Wu Y. Ni(OH)2/CNTs hierarchical spheres for a foldable all-solid-state supercapacitor with high specific energy. Nanoscale 2018;10:7377.
He X, Hu Y, Chen R, Shen Z, Wu K, Cheng Z, Pan P. Foldable uniform GeOx/ZnO/C composite nanofibers as a high-capacity anode material for flexible lithium ion batteries. Chem Eng J 2019;360:1020.
Miao Y, Yan J, Huang Y, Fan W, Liu T. Electrospun polymer nanofiber membrane electrodes and an electrolyte for highly flexible and foldable all-solid-state supercapacitors. RSC Adv 2015;5:26189.
Yun J, Lim Y, Lee H, Lee G, Park H, Hong SY, ** SW, Lee YH, Lee S, Ha JS. A patterned graphene/ZnO uv sensor driven by integrated asymmetric micro-supercapacitors on a liquid metal patterned foldable paper. Adv Funct Mater 2017;27:1700135.
Ge D, Yang L, Fan L, Zhang C, **ao X, Gogotsi Y, Yang S. Foldable supercapacitors from triple networks of macroporous cellulose fibers, single-walled carbon nanotubes and polyaniline nanoribbons. Nano Energy 2015;11:568.
Liu L, Niu Z, Zhang L, Zhou W, Chen X, **e S. Nanostructured graphene composite papers for highly flexible and foldable supercapacitors. Adv Mater 2014;26:4855.
Liu Q, Li L, Xu J, Chang Z, Xu D, Yin Y, Yang X, Liu T, Jiang Y, Yan J, Zhang X. Flexible and foldable Li–O2 battery based on paper-ink cathode. Adv Mater 2015;27:8095.
Wu H, Kong D, Ruan Z, Hsu P, Wang S, Yu Z, Carney TJ, Hu L, Fan S, Cui Y. A transparent electrode based on a metal nanotrough network. Nat Nanotech 2013;8:421.
Gustafsson G, Cao Y, Treacy GM, Klavetter F, Colaneri N, Heeger AJ. Flexible light-emitting-diodes made from soluble conducting polymers. Nature 1992;357:477.
Zan G, Wu Q. Biomimetic and bioinspired synthesis of nanomaterials/nanostructures. Adv Mater 2016;28:2099.
Gao H, Wang Z, Cui C, Bao J, Zhu Y, **a J, Wen S, Wu H, Yu S. A highly compressible and stretchable carbon spring for smart vibration and magnetism sensors. Adv Mater 2021;33:2102724.
Hao Y, Hu F, Chen Y, Wang Y, Xue J, Yang S, Peng S. Recent progress of electrospun nanofibers for zinc-air batteries. Adv Fiber Mater 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42765-021-00109-4 .
Lee JKY, Chen N, Peng S, Li L, Tian L, Thakor N, Ramakrishna S. Polymer-based composites by electrospinning: preparation and functionalization with nanocarbons. Prog Polym Sci 2018;86:40.
Zhang Y, Zuo L, Zhang L, Yan J, Lu H, Fan W, Liu T. Immobilization of NiS nanoparticles on n-doped carbon fiber aerogels as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors. Nano Res 2016;9:2747.
Xue Z, Li X, Liu Q, Cai M, Liu K, Liu M, Ke Z, Liu X, Li G. Interfacial electronic structure modulation of NiTe nanoarrays with NiS nanodots facilitates electrocatalytic oxygen evolution. Adv Mater 2019;31:1900430.
Yu X, Yu L, Wu HB, Lou XWD. Formation of nickel sulfide nanoframes from metal-organic frameworks with enhanced pseudocapacitive and electrocatalytic properties. Angew Chem Int Edit 2015;54:5331.
Yang J, Wang Y, Li W, Wang L, Fan Y, Jiang W, Luo W, Wang Y, Kong B, Selomulya C, Liu HK, Dou SX, Zhao D. Amorphous TiO2 shells: a vital elastic buffering layer on silicon nanoparticles for high-performance and safe lithium storage. Adv Mater 2017;29:1700523.
He S, Li Y, Liu L, Jiang Y, Feng J, Zhu W, Zhang J, Dong Z, Deng Y, Luo J, Zhang W, Chen G. Semiconductor glass with superior flexibility and high room temperature thermoelectric performance. Sci Adv 2020;6:eaaz8423.
Deng S, Yuan Z, Tie Z, Wang C, Song L, Niu Z. Electrochemically induced metal-organic-framework-derived amorphous V2O5 for superior rate aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Angew Chem Int Edit 2020;59:22002.
Huang C, Gao A, Yi F, Wang Y, Shu D, Liang Y, Zhu Z, Ling J, Hao J. Metal organic framework derived hollow NiS@C with S-vacancies to boost high-performance supercapacitors. Chem Eng J 2021;419:129643.
Pan Q, Zhou H, Lu Q, Gao H, Lu L. History-independent cyclic response of nanotwinned metals. Nature 2017;551:214.
Zan G, Wu T, Hu P, Zhou Y, Zhao S, Xu S, Chen J, Cui Y, Wu Q. An approaching-theoretical-capacity anode material for aqueous battery: hollow hexagonal prism Bi2O3 assembled by nanoparticles. Energy Storage Mater 2020;28:82.
Acknowledgements
We appreciate the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22176145, 51771138), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (22120210137), and the State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology (KF 2001).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no interests to declare.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Supplementary file 1 (MP4 4,701 KB)
Supplementary file 2 (MP4 6,115 KB)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zan, G., Wu, T., Dong, W. et al. Two-Level Biomimetic Designs Enable Intelligent Stress Dispersion for Super-Foldable C/NiS Nanofiber Free-Standing Electrode. Adv. Fiber Mater. 4, 1177–1190 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42765-022-00162-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42765-022-00162-7