Interstitial boron-doped mesoporous semiconductor oxides for ultratransparent energy storage

Realizing transparent and energy-dense supercapacitor is highly challenging, as there is a trade-off between energy storing capability and transparency in the active material film. We report here that interstitial boron-doped mesoporous semiconductor oxide shows exceptional electrochemical capacitance which rivals other pseudocapacitive materials, while maintaining its transparent characteristic. This improvement is credited to the robust redox reactions at interstitial boron-associated defects that transform inert semiconductor oxides into an electrochemically active material without affecting its transparency. By precisely tuning the level of doping, the pseudocapacitive reactivity of these materials is optimized, resulting in a volumetric capacitance up to 1172 F cm−3. Attributing to such efficient charge storage utilization on the active film, the fabricated transparent supercapacitor delivers a maximum areal energy density of 1.36 × 10−3 mWh cm−2 that is close to those of conventional pseudocapacitive materials, with nearly 100% capacitance retention after 15000 cycles and ultrahigh transparency (up to 85% transmittance at 550 nm). In addition, this device shows excellent durability and flexibility with multiple optional outputs, demonstrating the potential as a transparent energy supply in planar electronics.