Co-electrodeposited porous poplar flower-like poly(hydroxymethyl-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/PEG/WS2 hybrid material for high-performance supercapacitor

Abstract The morphology of electrode material is generally critical to affecting their electrochemical performance. Here, a porous poplar flower-like PEDOT-MeOH/PEG/WS2 hybrid material is successfully prepared using a simply co-electrodeposition method. With the assistance of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), the chemically exfoliated WS2 nanosheets are doped into poly(hydroxymethyl-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT-MeOH) film. The formation of a porous poplar flower-like PEDOT-MeOH/PEG/WS2 composite is proved by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectra, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The maximum capacitance of the composite reaches 461.5 mF cm-2, which is 1.6 times greater than that of PEDOT-MeOH/PEG film. As-fabricated PEDOT-MeOH/PEG/WS2 composite can keep 85.8% of the initial areal capacitance after 5000 cycles. Additionally, PEDOT-MeOH/PEG/WS2-based symmetrical supercapacitor presents a capacitive capacity of 62.7 mF cm-2 at 0.5 mA cm-2, specific energy of 8.72×103 μWh cm-2 at 2.62×105 μW cm-2, and capacitive retention of 83.3% after 5000 cycles with a 100% coulombic efficiency. The capacitance improvement of PEDOT-MeOH/PEG/WS2 composite is closely related to porous poplar flower-like structure as well as the cooperation-enhancing effect between PEDOT-MeOH and WS2. These results imply that PEDOT-MeOH/PEG/WS2 composite will have great potential application in the field of the energy storage.