Polypyrrole/SnCl₂ modified bacterial cellulose electrodes with high areal capacitance for flexible supercapacitors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Supercapacitors require lightweight, flexible electrodes for portable electronics.
• Polypyrrole (PPy) and bacterial cellulose (BC) are promising materials for electrode fabrication.
• Existing methods for PPy/BC composites face challenges in uniform deposition and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a facile and efficient method for creating uniform polypyrrole/bacterial cellulose composite electrodes.
• To investigate the electrochemical performance of the novel composite for supercapacitor applications.
• To evaluate the mechanical flexibility and cycling stability of the fabricated electrodes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an electrostatic self-assembly approach for uniform deposition of anion-doped PPy onto SnCl2-modified BC (SBC).
• Fabricated PPy@SBC composite membranes for electrode applications.
• Assembled symmetric flexible supercapacitors using the PPy@SBC electrodes.

Main Results:

• The PPy@SBC electrode achieved a high areal capacitance of 5718 mF cm⁻² at 0.5 mA cm⁻².
• Demonstrated excellent capacitance retention of 83.1% at 5.0 mA cm⁻².
• Exhibited robust cycling stability with 86.8% retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 mA cm⁻².
• The flexible supercapacitor showed negligible capacitance decay under bent states.

Conclusions:

• The electrostatic self-assembly method provides a facile route to high-performance PPy@SBC electrodes.
• The PPy@SBC composite demonstrates significant potential for advanced flexible supercapacitors.
• This work contributes to the development of lightweight and durable energy storage solutions.