Multifunctional Wearable Electronic Based on Fabric Modified by PPy/NiCoAl-LDH for Energy Storage, Electromagnetic Interference Shielding, and Photothermal Conversion.

With the rapid advancement of electronic technology, traditional textiles are challenged to keep up with the demands of wearable electronics. It is anticipated that multifunctional textile-based electronics incorporating energy storage, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and photothermal conversion are expected to alleviate this problem. Herein, a multifunctional cotton fabric with hierarchical array structure (PPy/NiCoAl-LDH/Cotton) is fabricated by the introduction of NiCoAl-layered double hydroxide (NiCoAl-LDH) nanosheet arrays on cotton fibers, followed by polymerization and growth of continuous dense polypyrrole (PPy) conductive layers. The multifunctional cotton fabric shows a high specific areal capacitance of 754.72 mF cm at 5 mA cm and maintains a long cycling life (80.95% retention after 1000 cycles). The symmetrical supercapacitor assembled with this fabric achieves an energy density of 20.83 µWh cm and a power density of 0.23 mWcm. Moreover, the excellent electromagnetic interference shielding (38.83 dB), photothermal conversion (70.2 °C at 1000 mW cm), flexibility and durability are also possess by the multifunctional cotton fabric. Such a multifunctional cotton fabric has great potential for using in new energy, smart electronics, and thermal management applications.