Polypyrrole-coated copper@graphene core-shell nanoparticles for supercapacitor application

• Published in: Nanotechnology 2023-03, Vol.34 (12), p.125401
• Main Authors: Ho, Hsiao-Yun, Chu, Hsuan-I, Huang, Yi-June, Tsai, Dung-Sheng, Lee, Chuan-Pei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: chemical vapor deposition; flexible electrode; graphene; polypyrrole; supercapacitor
• ISSN: 0957-4484; 1361-6528
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/acad87

The performance of supercapacitors strongly depends on the electrochemical characterizations of electrode materials. Herein, a composite material consisted of polypyrrole (PPy) and multilayer graphene-wrapped copper nanoparticles (PPy/MLG-Cu NPs) is fabricated on a flexible carbon cloth (CC) substrate via two-step synthesis process for supercapacitor application. Where, MLG-Cu NPs are prepared on CC by one-step chemical vapor deposition synthesis approach; thereafter, the PPy is further deposited on the MLG-Cu NPs/CC via electropolymerization. The related material characterizations of PPy/MLG-Cu NPs are well investigated by scanning electron microscopic, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectrometer and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; the electrochemical behaviors of the pertinent electrodes are studied by cyclic voltammogram, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The flexible electrode with PPy/MLG-Cu NPs composites exhibits the best specific capacitance of 845.38 F g at 1 A g , which is much higher than those of electrodes with PPy (214.30 F g ), MLG-Cu NPs (6.34 F g ), multilayer graphene hollow balls (MLGHBs; 52.72 F g ), and PPy/MLGHBs (237.84 F g ). Finally, a supercapacitor system consisted of four PPy/MLG-Cu NPs/CC electrodes can efficiently power various light-emitting diodes (i.e. red, yellow, green and blue lighs), demonstrating the practical application of PPy/MLG-Cu NPs/CC electrode.