Polymeric cathode materials of electroactive conducting poly(triphenylamine) with optimized structures for potential organic pseudo-capacitors with higher cut-off voltage and energy density

For electrochemical capacitors or supercapacitors, pseudo-capacitors via fast surface reactions are able to store/harvest more electrical energy when compared with electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) using an ion adsorption route. A combination of pseudo-capacitive materials, including oxides, nitrides and polymers, as well as understanding the charge storage mechanism and the development of advanced nanostructures with the latest generation of nanostructured lithium electrodes has brought the energy density of electrochemical capacitors closer to that of batteries. Electroactive polymeric cathodes with designed structures via electrospinning (without polymeric additives) and surfactant-free precipitation polymerization routes were herein fabricated for the abovementioned goals. The as-prepared polymeric active materials show an electrochemical capacitance of around 200 F g(-1) with a higher cut-off voltage up to 4.2 V and an energy density up to 370 Wh kg(-1) and power density up to 34 kW kg(-1) in an organic electrolyte system.