Bioinspired polydopamine supported on oxygen-functionalized carbon cloth as a high-performance 1.2 V aqueous symmetric metal-free supercapacitor

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2021-03, Vol.9 (12), p.7712-7725
• Main Authors: Moloudi, Masumeh, Rahmanifar, Mohammad S, Noori, Abolhassan, Chang, Xueying, Kaner, Richard B, Mousavi, Mir F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aqueous electrolytes; Biopolymers; Capacitance; Carbon; Catechol; Cloth; Conductance; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Energy storage; Energy technology; Environmental impact; Environmental legislation; Flexibility; Mass transport; Optimization; Oxygen; Renewable energy; Resistance; Solid state; Stability; Sustainability; Wettability
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ta12624a

The ongoing surge in demand for sustainable energy technologies with little to no environmental impacts calls for the exploration of advanced energy storage materials. Inspiration from nature is undoubtedly a promising approach to comply with environmental legislations. Herein, we describe a facile and green electrosynthesis approach to fabricate a polydopamine (PDA) nanofilm supported on oxygen-functionalized carbon cloth (FCC). The surface functionalization of carbon cloth facilitates the PDA nanofilm adhesion and endows the as-prepared PDA-FCC electrode with excellent flexibility, good electrical conductance (22.6 mS), and outstanding wettability to the aqueous electrolyte. Owing to these merits, the PDA-FCC electrode delivers a favorable capacitance of 626 F g −1 at 1.0 A g −1 (617 mF cm −2 at 2.2 mA cm −2 , and 1296 mF cm −3 at 5.3 mA cm −3 ), in which the catechol, amine, and imine moieties of PDA are responsible for its excellent pseudocapacitive behavior. The symmetric all-solid-state flexible PDA-FCC||PDA-FCC device covers almost the entire thermodynamic stability window of aqueous electrolytes (1.2 V), delivers a high specific energy of 11.7 W h kg −1 , superb specific power of up to 6.4 kW kg −1 , and excellent flexibility along with outstanding cycling stability (81% retention of the initial capacitance after 10 000 cycles). These performance characteristics are in part due to the binder-free PDA biopolymer film that adopts the inherent texture of the carbon cloth, enabling the pores to play the role of temporary ion-buffering reservoirs that facilitate effective mass transport. This new approach to fabricate electrodes from green sources is considered an important step toward environmentally-benign energy storage technologies. Mussel-inspired polydopamine film is electrodeposited on oxygen-functionalized carbon cloth that acts a high performance, flexible, and all-solid-state supercapacitor across almost the whole stability window of aqueous electrolytes.