Multifunctional carbon textile composites for high-performance supercapacitor and sensor electrodes

Developing structural carbon composites for multifunctional supercapacitor/sensor electrodes poses a major challenge. A vacuum filtration and carbonization process was used in the fabrication of a structural carbon composite in this paper. The method involved depositing graphene oxide (GO) onto silk fabric, followed by an integrated pyrolysis process, yielding a structural composite with excellent multifunctional properties. The composite exhibits a specific capacitance of 543.97 F g⁻¹ at 2 mA cm⁻², maintaining 102 % capacitance retention over 10,000 cycles under 3M KOH electrolyte at 10 mA cm⁻². When employed as a sensor electrode, the composite achieves a maximum sensitivity of 575.55 kPa⁻¹ at 120 kPa pressure, along with stable sensing performance through 4500 cycles, demonstrating its potential for reliable integration into highly sensitive capacitive pressure sensing applications. Additionally, it can be used as a wearable heater for personal thermal regulation, and a shield against electromagnetic radiation, offering a shielding effectiveness of 55.82 dB. This work not only provides a scalable and efficient strategy for developing multifunctional carbon-based materials but also opens new avenues for designing next-generation integrated devices that bridge energy, sensing, and environmental protection.