Challenges In Packaging of Flexible and Wearable Supercapacitors Against Humidity Variations

The demand for flexible, portable and wearable power sources has increased recently for powering flexible electronics required in military and commercial applications. Flexible supercapacitors, a novel class of tiny Energy Storage Devices (ESD), have garnered a lot of attention as a means of satisfying this demand. High sensitivity to the changes in temperature and humidity levels in extreme environments is a drawback of these supercapacitors. It is difficult to sell these gadgets in the market without fully resolving packaging and reliability problems when operated in harsh environments. Presently, the researchers are focusing on improving the energy density and other performance parameters of these devices, but little emphasis is given on proper packaging and monitoring their performance when exposed to varying temperature and humidity conditions [1]-[4]. In this work, we focus on the effect of varying humidity on these flexible supercapacitors and how proper packaging can help to eliminate this problem.