Polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide coated fabric electrodes for supercapacitor application

Flexible and wearable energy storage devices are strongly demanded to power smart textiles. Herein, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and polypyrrole (PPy) were deposited on cotton fabric via thermal reduction of GO and chemical polymerization of pyrrole to prepare textile-based electrodes for supercapacitor application. The obtained PPy-RGO-fabric retained good flexibility of textile and was highly conductive, with the conductivity of 1.2 S cm(-1). The PPy-RGO-fabric supercapacitor showed a specific capacitance of 336 F g(-1) and an energy density of 21.1 Wh kg(-1) at a current density of 0.6 mA cm(-2). The RGO sheets served as conductor and framework under the PPy layer, which could facilitate electron transfer between RGO and PPy and restrict the swelling and shrinking of PPy, thus resulting in improved electrochemical properties respect to the PPy-fabric device. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.