Crumpled Graphene Forms Stretchable Supercapacitors to Power Flexible Electronic Devices

To form the crumpled graphene, a sheet of polymer material is stretched in both dimensions, then graphene paper is bonded to it. When the polymer is released in one direction, the graphene forms pleats, as shown in the bottom left image, taken with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Then, when released in the other direction, it forms a chaotic crumpled pattern (top left). At top right, an SEM image shows the material in a partially crumpled state. At bottom right, SEM image of a piece that has been crumpled and then flattened out.