Electrochemical Deposition of Polypyrrole/Sulfonated Graphene Composite Films

Composite films of sulfonated graphene (SG) and polypyrrole (PPy) were electrochemically deposited from the aqueous solutions containing pyrrole monomer, SG sheets, and dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA). During the process of electrochemical polymerization, negatively charged SG sheets acted as a dopant of PPy. Thus, they were uniformly dispersed in the PPy matrices of resulting composites. The introduction of SG sheets improved the conductivity and electrochemical properties of PPy films. The composite films containing about 40% (by weight) SG showed a high specific capacitance of 285 F g(-1) at a discharge rate of 0.5 A g(-1). They also exhibited greatly improved electrochemical stability and rate performances.