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Stable polyaniline/sodium alginate/graphene oxide composite hydrogels as binder-free supercapacitor electrodes

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Abstract

Conducting hydrogels are considered one of the key materials for the fabrication of supercapacitors. But it is a significant requirement for the design of rational structures and simultaneous realization of high electrochemical performance and mechanical strength. Herein, the stable polyaniline/sodium alginate/graphene oxide composite hydrogels are prepared by aniline polymerization in the aqueous solution containing graphene oxide (GO) and sodium alginate (SA). Owing to the multiple interactions among polyaniline (PANi), GO, and SA, three components are intertwined, which leads to the production of the three-dimensional hydrogel network and endows the hydrogel with relatively high mechanical strength and electrochemical performance. The obtained PANi/SA/GO hydrogel exhibits high mechanical strength of more than 50 kPa and displays excellent specific capacitance of 457 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and long-term cyclability. Moreover, the fabricated supercapacitor composed of PANi/SA/GO hydrogel possesses satisfied flexibility and outstanding capacitance. This work presents a simple integration route for the synthesis of conducting hydrogels with outstanding performance in the field of supercapacitors for flexible electronics.

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Funding

The work was supported by Training Programs of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Undergraduates, Graduate Innovative Fund of Wuhan Institute of Technology, Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (2021CFB507, 2021CFB169), the Hubei Provincial Department of Education Science and Technology Research Program (B2021098), and the Open Project of Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education (GCX202107).

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  1. Xianming Ke and Fuguo Yang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Center of Phosphorus Resources Development and Utilization of Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, People’s Republic of China

    Xianming Ke, Fuguo Yang, Huabo Huang, Rui Zhao, Jiayou Ji & Liang Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Green Processing and Functional New Textile Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Textile Science and Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, No.1 Sunshine Avenue, Wuhan, 430200, People’s Republic of China

    Juan Huang

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  1. Xianming Ke
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Ke, X., Yang, F., Huang, H. et al. Stable polyaniline/sodium alginate/graphene oxide composite hydrogels as binder-free supercapacitor electrodes. Ionics 28, 5633–5641 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-022-04770-6

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