Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate-coated carbon nanofiber electrodes via dip-coating method for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

The conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is used to modify carbon nanofibers via the dip-coating method. The modification process is carried out by immersing the carbon nanofibers 3, 6, and 9 times in PEDOT:PSS solution. As a result, the production of flexible, homogeneous, self-standing, bead-free carbon nanofibers has been accomplished. The PEDOT:PSS coating process is carried out without negatively affecting the porosity between the nanofibers and the average diameter of the nanofibers increases linearly with the dipping number. Initially, the specific capacitance of the neat carbon nanofiber is 199 F/g in the voltage range of − 0.5 to + 0.5 V at a scan rate of 10 mV/s, while specific capacitance was measured as 278, 311, 350 F/g after the 3, 6, and 9 times PEDOT:PSS coating process, respectively. Additionally, the 9P-CNF sample shows a very high capacitance value, such as 1321 F/g, at a scanning speed of 1 mV/s in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte. On the other hand, it has been observed that the performance of the hybrid electrode retains approximately 80% of its performance after 2500 CV cycles. The performance of the carbon nanofiber electrode is enhanced by dip-coating with PEDOT:PSS, which is simple, fast, and suitable for large-scale production. The resulting hybrid electrode is suitable for a variety of energy storage applications, most notably supercapacitors.