Three-Dimensional, Chemically Bonded Polypyrrole/Bacterial Cellulose/Graphene Composites for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Abstract

Flexible energy storage systems have recently attracted great interest for portable electronic devices. The functionalization of graphene provides vast platform in tailoring its nanostructure and properties for energy storage via facile processing. Here, we first demonstrate the development of chemically bonded graphene oxide and bacterial cellulose hybrid composite coated with polypyrrole for robust and high-efficiency supercapacitor electrodes. The as-prepared composites exhibited a highest electrical conductivity (1320 S m –1 ) and the largest volumetric capacitance (278 F cm –3 ) ever shown by carbon-based electrodes, along with 95.2% retention of 556 F g –1 gravimetric capacitance over 5000 recycling tests in asymmetric supercapacitors. Impressively, the hybrid electrode contributed a 492 F g –1 gravimetric capacitance and 93.5% retention over 2000 recycling in symmetric supercapacitors. The nanostructure and composition of the composites were found to play a crucial role for the performance of these three-dimensional, chemically bonded hybrid composite electrodes.