Flexible electrochemical capacitors based on polypyrrole/carbon fibers via chemical polymerization of pyrrole vapor

Abstract

Polypyrrole (PPy) has been deposited on the carbon fibers (CFs) via chemical oxidation of monomer vapor strategy, during which FeCl3·6H2O in acetonitrile adsorbed on CFs acts as oxidant to polymerize the pyrrole vapor. The morphologies and capacitive properties of the PPy deposited on CFs (PPy/CFs) are strongly influenced by the concentration of oxidant used in the process. The assembled flexible capacitors by using PPy/CFs as electrodes and LiCl/polyvinyl alcohol as gel electrolyte have been evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the composites of PPy/CFs prepared by using 350mgmL−1 FeCl3·6H2O as oxidant (PPy/CFs-350) exhibit relatively higher specific capacitance and good rate capability. Compared with PPy/CFs prepared by electrochemical deposition (retaining 5% of the initial capacitance), the PPy/CFs prepared by chemically polymerizing monomer vapor shows excellent stability (retaining 85% of initial capacitance after 5000 cycles). Furthermore, cells fabricated by PPy/CFs show a fairly good performance under various bending states, three cells of PPy/CFs-350 connected in series can light up a light emitting diode with a voltage threshold of about 2.5V for approximate 10min after being charged for about 3min, revealing the potential of the cells’ practical applications.