Vapor-phase polymerization of poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanofibers on carbon cloth as electrodes for flexible supercapacitors

In this study, an evaporative vapor-phase polymerization approach was employed to fabricate vertically aligned poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanofibers on the surface of carbon cloth (CC). Optimized reaction conditions can obtain well distributed and uniform layers of high-aspect-ratio PEDOT nanofibers on CC. The hierarchical PEDOT/CC structure as a freestanding electrode exhibits good electrochemical properties. As a flexible symmetric supercapacitor, the PEDOT/CC hybrid electrode displays a specific areal capacitance of 201.4 mF cm⁻² at 1 mA cm⁻², good flexibility with a higher value (204.6 mF cm⁻²) in the bending state, and a good cycling stability of 92.4% after 1000 cycles. Moreover, the device shows a maximum energy density of 4.0 Wh kg⁻¹ (with a power density of 3.2 kW kg⁻¹) and a maximum power density of 4.2 kW kg⁻¹ (with an energy density of 3.1 Wh kg⁻¹). The results demonstrate that PEDOT may be a promising material for storage devices through a simple and efficient vapor-phase polymerization process with precisely controlled reaction conditions. (paper)