Surface modification of jute fabrics by reduced graphene oxide-conducting polymer coatings for their application in low-cost and eco-friendly supercapacitors

Abstract

In this study, flexible textile supercapacitors were obtained on jute fabrics. Insulating jute fibers were converted into electrically conducting using an optimized reduced graphene oxide (rGO) deposition method. Supercapacitors were made of jute fabric and polypyrrole (PPy) as conducting polymer. rGO improved the electrical behavior of PPy-jute supercapacitors obtained by chemical polymerization. These chemical PPy-jute supercapacitors presented a low surface resistivity (6 Ω/sq) suitable for subsequent electrochemical polymerization. The best results were obtained for rGO-PPy-jute supercapacitors synthesized by electrochemical polymerization, with capacitance values of 5127 mF cm−2 (117 F g−1) in a 3-electrode system; and1770 mF cm−2, 39.9 F g−1, 250 μW h cm−2 and 1100 μW cm−2 in a 2-electrode system. It is essential to highlight that the jute supercapacitors obtained are eco-friendly, low cost, flexible and with very competitive energy-storage values compared to recent investigations.