Well-Constructed CNT Mesh/PANI Nanoporous Electrode and Its Thickness Effect on the Supercapacitor Properties

In this work, a well-constructed carbon nanotube (CNT) mesh/polyaniline (PANI) composite film was fabricated as the electrode of flexible supercapacitor via alternatively cross-stacking superaligned CNT sheets and in situ coating PANI from chemical solution. Compared with other CNT/PANI composites using random-constructed CNT network as backbone, this composite has a remarkable uniform and oriented structure in both the plane and thickness direction with a thickness as low as 0.8 mu m. As its electrode thickness can be easy-controlled, the electrode thickness dependence of the assembled supercapacitor performance was precisely measured, and the possible cause was analyzed. The results showed that there exists an optimal electrode thickness of about 5 mu m or less for achieving the highest electrode specific capacitance, energy density, and power density. Its highest electrode power density (9.0 kW kg(-1)) is much higher than that of the ever reported CNT/PANI composites prepared by other methods. Such composite may have great application potentials on new flexible devices for energy storage.