Flexible electrochemical capacitors based on polypyrrole/carbon fibers via chemical polymerization of pyrrole vapor

Abstract Polypyrrole (PPy) has been deposited on the carbon fibers (CFs) via chemical oxidation of monomer vapor strategy, during which FeCl 3 ·6H 2 O in acetonitrile adsorbed on CFs acts as oxidant to polymerize the pyrrole vapor. The morphologies and capacitive properties of the PPy deposited on CFs (PPy/CFs) are strongly influenced by the concentration of oxidant used in the process. The assembled flexible capacitors by using PPy/CFs as electrodes and LiCl/polyvinyl alcohol as gel electrolyte have been evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the composites of PPy/CFs prepared by using 350 mg mL −1 FeCl 3 ·6H 2 O as oxidant (PPy/CFs-350) exhibit relatively higher specific capacitance and good rate capability. Compared with PPy/CFs prepared by electrochemical deposition (retaining 5% of the initial capacitance), the PPy/CFs prepared by chemically polymerizing monomer vapor shows excellent stability (retaining 85% of initial capacitance after 5000 cycles). Furthermore, cells fabricated by PPy/CFs show a fairly good performance under various bending states, three cells of PPy/CFs-350 connected in series can light up a light emitting diode with a voltage threshold of about 2.5 V for approximate 10 min after being charged for about 3 min, revealing the potential of the cells’ practical applications.