Liquid-Crystal-Mediated Self-Assembly of Porous alpha-Fe2O3 Nanorods on PEDOT:PSS-Functionalized Graphene as a Flexible Ternary Architecture for Capacitive Energy Storage

A novel aqueous-based self-assembly approach to a composite of iron oxide nanorods on conductive-polymer (CP)-functionalized, ultralarge graphene oxide (GO) liquid crystals (LCs) is demonstrated here for the fabrication of a flexible hybrid material for charge capacitive application. Uniform decoration of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods on a poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS)-functionalized, ultralarge GO scaffold results in a 3D interconnected layer-by-layer (LBL) architecture. This advanced interpenetrating network of ternary components is lightweight, foldable, and possesses highly conductive pathways for facile ion transportation and charge storage, making it promising for high-performance energy-storage applications. Having such structural merits and good synergistic effects, the flexible architecture exhibits a high specific discharge capacitance of 875 F g(-1) and excellent volumetric specifi c capacitance of 868 F cm(-3) at 5 mV s(-1), as well as a promising energy density of 118 W h kg(-1) (at 0.5 A g(-1)) and promising cyclability, with capacity retention of 100% after 5000 chargedischarge (CD) cycles. This synthesis method provides a simple, yet efficient approach for the solution-processed LBL insertion of the hematite nanorods (HNR) into CP-functionalized novel composite structure. It provides great promise for the fabrication of a variety of metal-oxide (MO)-nanomaterial-based binder and current collector-free flexible composite electrodes for high-performance energy-storage applications.