Comparison between PEDOT:PSS and Carbon Pastes for Preparing Flexible Electrodes of Supercapacitors

Abstract

We compare screen-printed flexible reduced graphene oxide(rGO)-chitosan(CS) supercapacitors (SCs) prepared using poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) pastes and carbon pastes (CPs). SCs with PEDOT:PSS (PEDOT:PSS/rGO-CS SCs) exhibit a higher pseudocapacitance (PC) than do those with CP. Plasma treatment damages the electrodes and lowers the specific capacitance of SCs. In a galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) test with a constant current of 0.25 mA, PEDOT:PSS/rGO-CS and CP/rGO-CS SCs respectively show a maximum specific capacitance of 14.70 mF cm−2 and 4.63 mF cm−2. PEDOT:PSS/rGO-CS and CP/rGO-CS SCs both show excellent performance in the stability and bending tests. With a 5,000-cycle cyclic voltammetry (CV) test, the capacitive retention rates are more than 97%. No degradation is observed for both PEDOT:PSS/rGO-CS and CP/rGO-CS SCs bent with a bending radius of 0.5 cm.