Electrodeposition of polyaniline on reduced graphene oxide/cotton yarn with tunable electrochemical performance for flexible textile supercapacitors

Abstract

Graphene/cotton fibers show significant promise in wearable energy storage due to their low cost, porous structure, and exceptional integration ability into wearable systems. However, the eco-unfriendly reductants and standalone electric double-layer capacitor hindered their application. Herein, a green and rapid hydrothermal-electrodeposition method was proposed to fabricate polyaniline (PANI) decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/cotton yarns without using any chemical reductants and oxidants. The PANI/rGO/cotton (PRC) yarn exhibited porous conductive network, structural controllability, and mechanical flexibility. Additionally, the PRC yarn electrode delivers a fast electron transport and ion migration, synergistic energy storage contribution, and a controllable capacitance (up to 81.2 mF cm−1 at 0.2 mA cm−1). The assembled yarn supercapacitor shows a good capacitance (19.8 mF cm−1 at 0.08 mA cm−1), excellent energy-power density (2.7 μWh cm−1 at 40 μW cm−1), and great capacitance retention. This green fabrication of PRC yarns brings new insights into the development of wearable energy storage.