Conductive polypyrrole-bacterial cellulose nanocomposite membranes as flexible supercapacitor electrode

Conductive nanocomposite membranes of polypyrrole/bacterial cellulose (PPy/BC) were fabricated in situ by oxidative polymerization of pyrrole with iron (III) chloride as an oxidant and BC as a template. The morphology of the PPy/BC membrane indicated that PPy nanoparticles deposited on the BC surface connected to form a continuous nanosheath structure by taking along the BC nanofiber. The flexible PPy/BC membrane obtained with the optimized reaction condition exhibited a high electrical conductivity of 3.9 S cm(-1), which was hardly affected by bending stress. The PPy/BC membrane could be directly used as flexible supercapacitor electrodes, with a maximum discharge capacity of 101.9 mA h g(-1) (459.5 F g(-1)) at 0.16 A g(-1) current density. The capacity decreased with charge/discharge cycling, which is attributed to mechanical degradation of PPy as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.