One-Pot hydrothermal approach to graphene/Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) composites for high-capacitance supercapacitors

Here the oxidative polymerization of 3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene and hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide were proceeded simultaneously, which enables the in-situ coating of the bridged poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanodendrites onto the highly-conductive graphene skeletons. The as-produced homogeneous graphene/PEDOT composites possess open channels, large accessible surface, fast charge transport, and high electrochemical utilization. The as-fabricated supercapacitor based such nanocomposites therefore exhibits larger specific capacitance (364 F g(-1) at 10 mV s(-1); 174 F g(-1) at 1.0 A g(-1)), better rate capability (154 F g(-1) at 20.0 A g(-1)), lower interface resistance, and higher cycling stability (retaining 91.4% over 10,000 cycles at 10 A g(-1)) compared to the PEDOT counterpart (328 F g(-1) at 10 mV s(-1); 147 F g(-1) at 1.0 A g(-1); 87% retention after 10,000 cycles). Moreover, its energy density is as high as 24.2 Wh kg(-1) at the power density of 1 kW kg(-1), and can remain 21.4 Wh kg(-1) at the high power density of 20 kW kg(-1). The proposed method is facile, novel, and scalable in developing high-performance supercapacitors by combining graphene and pseudocapacitive PEDOT nanodendrites.