Urea-treated wet-spun PEDOT: PSS fibers for achieving high-performance wearable supercapacitors

Abstract Reliable stability plays an essential role in the development of wearable electronics, while for fiber-based wearable sensors, it is a big challenge to achieve their long-term stability. Currently, developing facile and rapid methods to obtain conductive fibers with high durability and electrical conductivity is still unremitting. In this work, we report a facile secondary treatment strategy to prepare PEDOT: PSS fibers with excellent durability, which is demonstrated in the fact that the electrical conductivity as well as the electrochemical properties of the fibers remain stable even after a long period of storage. Meanwhile, the conductivity of urea-treated fibers has been remarkably improved compared to that of pristine fibers. It is worth mentioning that enhanced durability not only stabilizes their electrical conductivity, but also enables long-term stability of the supercapacitor made of the fibers. Moreover, this work explores the importance of stability for PEDOT: PSS fiber-based devices, inspiring a unique path for novel fiber design.