Enhancing flexible supercapacitor performance of an electrochemically polymerized polypyrrole/polyester felt fabric by incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles

Abstract

Electrochemical polymerization effectively deposits polypyrrole (PPy) onto activated carbon polyester felt fabric (ACPFF) to create a novel flexible supercapacitor electrode. TiO₂ nanoparticles were used in the electrochemical polymerization process to improve the supercapacitor performance of the electrode. Electrochemical experiments revealed that adding TiO₂ improved the electrochemical performance of ACPFF-PPy. The cyclic voltammetry studies revealed a considerable increase in specific capacitance at various scan rates and increased from 53.5F/g to 121F/g for ACPFF-PPy and ACPFF-PPy-TiO₂, respectively, at a scan rate of 5 mV/s. The capacitance obtained from galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements increased by 353 % at a current density of 1.5 A/g due to TiO₂ addition. The examined electrodes demonstrated good long-term cycling stability, with retentions of 81 % for ACPFF-PPy and 85 % for ACPFF-PPy-TiO₂ after 2400 cycles.