Porous conducting polymer and reduced graphene oxide: preparation, characterization and electrochemical performance

Abstract

We demonstrated direct deposition a porous conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanostructure on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as high performance electrochemical electrode. The large area RGO film was constructed on substrate through a Langmuir–Blodgett deposition of graphene oxide and a following reductive treatment. The porous PEDOT nanostructure was successively constructed on RGO through an in situ solution polymerization and simple thermal treatment. This porous PEDOT/RGO nanocomposites contained large and highly opened surface area with superior electrochemical activity. A specific capacitance as high as 267 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g was achieved. The compared conductive performance between RGO and porous PEDOT resulted in better EIS performance of composite electrode. The stable covering of porous PEDOT on RGO also improved the capacitance retention performance of PEDOT, and the nanocomposites showed excellent capacitance retention rate after 4,000 charge/discharge cycles. The research data revealed that high specific capacitance and good cycling stability can be achieved either by coupling the advantages of carbon materials and conducting polymer.