A self-standing nanocomposite foam of polyaniline@reduced graphene oxide for flexible super-capacitors

Abstract

Self-standing three-dimensional nanocomposite foam of polyaniline (PANI) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been fabricated by a convenient template-directed preparation of rGO and subsequent in situ polymerization of aniline on pre-formed rGO foam, which can be directly used as electrodes for flexible supercapacitors. The nanocomposite foam of PANI@rGO possesses the advantages of self-standing, foam-like high porosity, low density (∼8.3mgcm−3), good flexibility and improved durability, which collaboratively lead to superior electrochemical performance, as a result of enhanced charge-transfer and mechanical support afforded by the rGO skeleton. The nanocomposite-based supercapacitor not only displays a high specific capacitance of 701Fg−1 at the current density of 1Ag−1, but also demonstrates improved cycling stability, retaining 92% of its starting capacitance after 1000 charge–discharge cycles. Moreover, the bended symmetric pseudocapacitor based on the flexible nanocomposite foam of PANI@rGO exhibits a high specific capacitance of 285Fg−1 at 1Ag−1, indicating excellent potential for real energy storage in flexible supercapacitors. The approach presented here shows great promise for the development of flexible low-density electrode materials with good potential for applications in portable electronic devices.