Role of Polymers in Enhancing the Performance of Electrochemical Supercapacitors: A Review

In this modern era, there is an increasing significance in the usage of supercapacitor devices in power applications due to their outstanding power density, ultrafast charging/discharging capability, and prolonged cycling ability. Extensive efforts are being made to improve their capacitive performance by engineering high-performing polymeric materials as electrode and electrolyte materials. Predominantly, the employment of conducting polymer (CP)-based composite materials as electrode materials has led to practical and theoretical benefits such as the outstanding surface area that facilitates quick access of dispersed electrolyte ions. The insertion of carbon materials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and porous carbon within the CPs matrix has an imperative role in refining the overall system's specific capacitance. The electrodes ' specific capacitance proficiency and cycling constancy are improved synergistically by integrating both materials for efficient energy-storage applications. This Minireview encompasses the storage mechanism in different gel polymer-based electrolytes and their role in enhancing the pseudocapacitance of redox-active materials for supercapacitor applications. Further, the Minireview focuses on the influence of conducting polymers in promoting the device performance with a view on the synthesis methodology and pseudocapacitive nature. The different types of supercapacitors designed with polymer gel electrolyte, solid polymer electrolyte, and biodegradable polymer-based electrolytes for improved supercapacitive performance are critically reviewed.

Automated summary

In the modern era, the significance of supercapacitor devices in power applications is increasing due to their outstanding capacitive performance. By exploring high-performing polymeric materials, especially in the electrode part, such as conducting polymer-based composite materials, the specific capacitance and cycling stability of the system can be significantly improved.