Polypyrrole decorated cobalt carbonate hydroxide on carbon cloth for high performance flexible supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

Polypyrrole decorated cobalt carbonate hydroxide on carbon cloth (PPy@CoCH/CC) has been synthesized by a simple and cost-effective hydrothermal method. The prepared PPy@CoCH/CC exhibits unique 3D hierarchical nanostructure, showing uniform decoration of PPy nanoparticles on CoCH nanosheets. The PPy@CoCH/CC composites exhibit enhanced electrochemical performances due to the enhanced electrical conductivity, pseudocapcitive behavior, and efficient ion transport of PPy. Specifically, The PPy@CoCH/CC composites show high specific capacitance of 1217 F·g−1 at a current density of 1 A·g−1 and a good cycling performance of 89% capacity retention after 8000 cycles. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor is fabricated using the PPy@CoCH/CC composites as both positive and negative electrode. The prepared symmetric supercapacitors deliver a high energy density of 47.36 Wh·kg−1 at a power density of 1600 W·kg−1.