A pseudocapacitive molecule-induced strategy to construct flexible high-performance asymmetric supercapacitors

Abstract

The combination of high-voltage windows and bending stability remains a challenge for supercapacitors. Here, we present an “advantage-complementary strategy” using sodium lignosulfonate as a pseudocapacitive molecule to regulate the spatial stacking pattern of graphene oxide and the interfacial architectures of graphene oxide and polyaniline. Flexible and sustainable sodium lignosulfonate-based electrodes are successfully developed, showing perfect bending stability and high electronic conductivity and specific capacitance (521 F·g⁻¹ at 0.5 A·g^–1). Due to the resulting rational interfacial structure and stable ion-electron transport, the asymmetric supercapacitors provide a wide voltage window reaching 1.7 V, outstanding bending stability and high energy-power density of 83.87 Wh·kg^–1 at 3.4 kW·kg^–1. These properties are superior to other reported cases of asymmetric energy enrichment. The synergistic strategy of sodium lignosulfonate on graphene oxide and polyaniline is undoubtedly beneficial to advance the process for the construction of green flexible supercapacitors with remarkably wide voltage windows and excellent bending stability.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

molecular synergy / pseudocapacitive lignosulfonate / flexible electronic devices / asymmetric supercapacitor / wide voltage windows

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi (Grant No. 2018GXNSFBA138025) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32171720).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2304-1 and is accessible for authorized users.

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