Integrated flexible supercapacitor based on poly (3, 4-ethylene dioxythiophene) deposited on Au/porous polypropylene film/Au

Abstract

Thin layers of continuous gold have been deposited on the both sides of porous polypropylene films (PPF) via electroless plating method to form a sandwich structure with two conductive surfaces and an intermediate insulating layer (Au/PPF/Au). Then poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxy thiophene) (PEDOT) layers are electrodeposited on the two conductive sides via cyclic voltammetry method to form the sandwich-structured PEDOT-Au/PPF/Au-PEDOT. Gel electrolyte of H3PO4/polyvinyl alcohol (H3PO4/PVA) is then added to the sandwich-structured PEDOT-Au/PPF/Au-PEDOT to form the integrated flexible supercapacitor of Au-PEDOT|H3PO4/PVA|PEDOT-Au. The PEDOT-Au/PPF/Au-PEDOT sandwiched structures are characterized and the capacitive performances of the integrated flexible cells are investigated in detail. The results show that the optimum integrated flexible cell exhibits excellent cycling stability (91.8% capacitance retention after 20000 cycles) and relatively high areal specific capacitance. Furthermore, the cells of Au-PEDOT|H3PO4/PVA|PEDOT-Au not only exhibit excellent bending endurance (99.1% capacitance retention after 5000 repeated bending cycles), but also can be conveniently connected in series without additional wires. This integrated flexible cell may exhibit potential application in portable electronics.