Layer-by-Layer Electrode Fabrication for Improved Performance of Porous Polyimide-Based Supercapacitors

Layer-by-Layer Electrode Fabrication for Improved Performance of Porous Polyimide-Based Supercapacitors

Fernando, Niranjala (Bournemouth University)
Veldhuizen, H.V. (TU Delft Novel Aerospace Materials)
Nagai, Atsushi (Toyohashi University of Technology)
van der Zwaag, S. (TU Delft Novel Aerospace Materials)
Abdelkader, Amor (Bournemouth University)

2022

Nanoporous polymers are becoming increasingly interesting materials for electrochemical applications, as their large surface areas with redox-active sites allow efficient adsorption and diffusion of ions. However, their limited electrical conductivity remains a major obstacle in practical applications. The conventional approach that alleviates this problem is the hybridisation of the polymer with carbon-based additives, but this directly prevents the utilisation of the maximum capacity of the polymers. Here, we report a layer-by-layer fabrication technique where we separated the active (porous polymer, top) layer and the conductive (carbon, bottom) layer and used these “layered” electrodes in a supercapacitor (SC). Through this approach, direct contact with the electrolyte and polymer material is greatly enhanced. With extensive electrochemical characterisation techniques, we show that the layered electrodes allowed a significant contribution of fast faradic surface reactions to the overall capacitance. The electrochemical performance of the layered-electrode SC outperformed other reported porous polymer-based devices with a specific gravimetric capacitance of 388 F·g−1 and an outstanding energy density of 65 Wh·kg−1 at a current density of 0.4 A·g−1. The device also showed outstanding cyclability with 90% of capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 1.6 A·g−1, comparable to the reported porous polymer-based SCs. Thus, the introduction of a layered electrode structure would pave the way for more effective utilisation of porous organic polymers in future energy storage/harvesting and sensing devices by exploiting their nanoporous architecture and limiting the negative effects of the carbon/binder matrix.

nanoporous polymer
supercapacitor
polyimide
electrochemistry
electrode fabrication
layer-by-layer
Polyimide
Electrochemistry
Supercapacitor
Nanoporous polymer
Electrode fabrication
Layer-by-layer

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:021a2ac8-78c6-4e71-b212-688e3781629f

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010004

1996-1944

Materials, 15 (1)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 Niranjala Fernando, H.V. Veldhuizen, Atsushi Nagai, S. van der Zwaag, Amor Abdelkader