Superior performance of highly flexible solid-state supercapacitor based on the ternary composites of graphene oxide supported poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Ternary composite electrodes based on carbon nanotubes thin films (CNFs)-loaded graphene oxide (GO) supported poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)- carbon nanotubes (GO/PEDOT-CNTs) have been prepared via a facile one-step electrochemical codeposition method. The effect of long and short CNTs-incorporated composites (GO/PEDOT-lCNTs and GO/PEDOT-sCNTs) on the electrochemical behaviors of the electrodes is investigated and compared. Electrochemical measurements indicate that the incorporation of CNTs effectively improves the electrochemical performances of the GO/PEDOT electrodes. Long CNTs-incorporated GO/PEDOT-lCNTs electrodes have more superior electrochemical behaviors with respect to the short CNTs-incorporated GO/PEDOT-lCNTs electrodes, which can be attributed to the optimized composition and specific microstructures of the former. To verify the feasibility of the prepared composite electrodes for utilization as flexible supercapacitor, a solid-state supercapacitor using the CNFs-loaded GO/PEDOT-lCNTs electrodes is fabricated and tested. The device shows lightweight, ultrathin, and highly flexible features, which also has a high areal and volumetric specific capacitance (33.4 m F cm−2 at 10 mV s−1 and 2.7 F cm−3 at 0.042 A cm−3), superior rate capability, and excellent cycle stability (maintaining 97.5% for 5000 cycles). This highly flexible solid-state supercapacitor has great potential for applications in flexible electronics, roll-up display, and wearable devices.