Enhanced supercapacitive behaviors of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/ graphene oxide hybrids prepared under optimized electropolymerization conditions

Abstract

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is known for compact morphology owing to dense growth, which limits its electrochemical capacitive properties. In this work, we have facilitated the dispersed growth of PEDOT by incorporating graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets, thus forming the PEDOT/GO hybrids via a facile electropolymerization route, in which GO nanosheets act as substrates with large specific area to load PEDOT coatings. The impact of electropolymerization modes and parameters on the supercapacitive properties of PEDOT/GO hybrids is studied in detail. Electrochemical measurements indicate that GO incorporation remarkably enhances the supercapacitive properties of PEDOT electrode. Among numerous preparation conditions, galvanostatically prepared electrode using 1 mA cm−2 presents the optimal supercapacitive properties, delivering an areal capacitance of 109.3 mF cm−2 at 0.5 mA cm−2 and retaining 95.1% of initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles. Such an electrode preserves the curly morphology of GO nanosheets and gives rise to more dispersed distribution for PEDOT coatings.