Flexible supercapacitor based on polyaniline nanowires/carbon cloth with both high gravimetric and area-normalized capacitance

Y.-Y. Horng; Y.-C. Lu; Y.-K. Hsu; Chia-Chun Chen; L.-C. Chen; K.-H. Chen

Flexible supercapacitor based on polyaniline nanowires/carbon cloth with both high gravimetric and area-normalized capacitance

Date

2010-07-01

Authors

Y.-Y. Horng

Y.-C. Lu

Y.-K. Hsu

Chia-Chun Chen

L.-C. Chen

K.-H. Chen

Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

Flexible supercapacitor is successfully fabricated using polyaniline nanowires/carbon cloth (PANI-NWs/CC) nanocomposite. High gravimetric capacitance of 1079 F g−1 at a specific energy of 100.9 Wh kg−1 and a specific power of 12.1 kW kg−1 is obtained. Moreover, this approach also offers an exceptionally high area-normalized capacitance of 1.8 F cm−2. The diffusion length of protons within the PANI-NWs is estimated to be about 60 nm by electrochemical impedance analysis, which indicates that the electrochemical performance of the electrode is not limited by the thickness of PANI-NWs. The electrochemical performance of PANI-NWS/CC remains without any deterioration, even when the cell is bent under high curvature. These results clearly present a cost-effective and simple method of fabrication of the nanostructured polymers with enormous potential in flexible energy storage device applications.