Construction of a binder-free PANI-CQD-Cu electrode via an electrochemical method for flexible supercapacitor applications

In recent years, flexible hybrid supercapacitors (FSCs) have played a significant role in energy storage applications owing to their superior flexibility and electrochemical properties. In this study, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were prepared from ascorbic acid via a hydrothermal method and physical and chemical characterizations were performed. Then, the carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were doped with polyaniline (PANI) and copper (Cu) to form a PANI-CQD-Cu composite coated on carbon cloth (CC) using an electropolymerization method. In the polymerization process, CQDs bind with the PANI chain and form a PANI-CQD-Cu composite. The prepared electrode's functional group and surface morphology were characterized through XRD, Raman, BET, XPS and SEM with EDAX studies. The electrochemical properties of the PANI-CQD-Cu electrode were investigated using cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic charge-discharge study. The capacitance value of PANI-CQD-Cu was 1070 mF cm⁻² at 5 mA cm⁻² (1070 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹), which was higher than that of PANI (775 mF cm⁻²). Moreover, a flexible asymmetric supercapacitor (FASC) based on an activated carbon/PVA-H₂SO₄/PANI-CQD-Cu device was fabricated, which exhibited outstanding energy and power densities of 23.10 μW h cm⁻² and 0.978 mW cm⁻², respectively. The capacitance value remained at 92% after 3000 cycles. The outcome results indicated that the PANI-CQD-Cu-coated CC electrode material can be a promising electrode material for practical energy storage applications.