Flexible, Transparent and Highly Conductive Polymer Film Electrodes for All-Solid-State Transparent Supercapacitor Applications.

Xin Guan,Zeng Fan,Lujun Pan

doi:10.3390/membranes11100788

Xin Guan, Zeng Fan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11100788

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Abstract

Lightweight energy storage devices with high mechanical flexibility, superior electrochemical properties and good optical transparency are highly desired for next-generation smart wearable electronics. The development of high-performance flexible and transparent electrodes for supercapacitor applications is thus attracting great attention. In this work, we successfully developed flexible, transparent and highly conductive film electrodes based on a conducting polymer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The PEDOT:PSS film electrodes were prepared via a simple spin-coating approach followed by a post-treatment with a salt solution. After treatment, the film electrodes achieved a high areal specific capacitance (3.92 mF/cm2 at 1 mA/cm2) and long cycling lifetime (capacitance retention >90% after 3000 cycles) with high transmittance (>60% at 550 nm). Owing to their good optoelectronic and electrochemical properties, the as-assembled all-solid-state device for which the PEDOT:PSS film electrodes were utilized as both the active electrode materials and current collectors also exhibited superior energy storage performance over other PEDOT-based flexible and transparent symmetric supercapacitors in the literature. This work provides an effective approach for producing high-performance, flexible and transparent polymer electrodes for supercapacitor applications. The as-obtained polymer film electrodes can also be highly promising for future flexible transparent portable electronics.

Highlights

As one of the most attractive power sources, supercapacitors that deliver rapid charging/discharging rates, high power densities and long lifecycles have received significant attention over the past few years [1,2,3]
We reported a flexible and transparent electrode with high performance based on PEDOT:PSS films
Cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements for the PEDOT:PSS electrodes were conducted in a three-electrode configuration

Summary

Introduction

As one of the most attractive power sources, supercapacitors that deliver rapid charging/discharging rates, high power densities and long lifecycles have received significant attention over the past few years [1,2,3]. Compared with the complex processing techniques for developing various inorganic-organic composite electrodes, the PEDOT:PSS film electrodes can be prepared by a simple spin-coating approach, allowing a high-efficient fabrication on a large scale Due to their high electrical conductivity, PEDOT:PSS films can be applied as both the current collectors and active electrodes in flexible and transparent all-solid-state supercapacitors [33]. Previous studies have shown that the optoelectronic properties of the PEDOT:PSS films could be greatly improved via either secondary doping or a post-treatment process with solvents [34], solutions [35], ionic liquids [36], zwitterions [37], acids [29], etc Among these approaches, the treatment using solutions consisting of common salts and solvents is mild, without causing damage to the plastic substrates, e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Transparent PET substrates were purchased from Dawan Plastic Electronics Company (Suzhou, China)

Fabrication of PEDOT:PSS Electrodes

Fabrication of All-Solid-State Symmetric Supercapacitors

Characterizations

Electrochemical Measurements

Results and Discussion