Paper-based electrode comprising zirconium phenylphosphonate modified cellulose fibers and porous polyaniline

Abstract

Polyaniline/cellulose fibers (PANI/CFs) composite prepared by heterogeneous in situ polymerization of aniline (ANI) in the presence of cellulose fibers offered a new preparation approach for flexible paper-based electrodes. However, one problem was the undesirable and inevitable polymerization of aniline in the solution. It reduced the utilization efficiency of aniline, and therefore decreased the mass loading of PANI on CFs. Here we described a unique paper-based electrode comprising zirconium phenylphosphonate (ZrPP)-modified CFs and PANI. CFs were first in situ modified with ZrPP to enhance the binding of aniline monomer to the surface of CFs resulting in a higher utilization ratio of aniline, deposition ratio of PANI and a very promising electrode material. A conformal coating of porous PANI was formed on the ZrPP-modified CFs by a facile in situ polymerization process in water. The electrical conductivity of PANI/ZrPP/CFs composite was increased to 11.53 × 10−2 S m−1. The electrochemical measurement revealed that the specific capacitance of PANI/ZrPP/CFs paper electrode was up to 321 F g−1 which is nearly as twice as that of PANI/CFs at a current density of 1 mA cm−2. Moreover, the composite were highly environmental stability and flame retardency compared to pure cellulose due to high mass loading of PANI induced by ZrPP. The PANI/ZrPP/CFs composite with integrate performance provided a promising paper-based electrode for energy storage.