In-situ electrostatic interaction enables poly(8-aminoquinoline)@GOs composites for synergistic enhancement to Zn2+ hybrid supracapacitors

Abstract

As one of the important components of supercapacitors, carbon materials still face practical problems such as low capacity and poor cycle stability. Here, the reverse-phase emulsion polymerization of 8-aminoquinoline and in-situ electrostatic interactions were applied to prepare electrode materials (PAQ@GOs) for high-performance ZHCSs to synergistically improve supercapacitor performance. The single layer of PAQ nanospheres from the micellar particles with positive charges spreads out along the GO surface with negative charges to form a uniform and dense arrangement in the reversed-phase emulsion polymerization. Among several PAQ@GOs, the specific capacitance for optimized [email protected] % was measured as 403.8 F g⁻¹, at 1 mV s⁻¹ due to their strong interaction, which is about 6 times better than pure GO and pure PAQ, revealing a significant synergistic enhancement effect. Additionally, ZHSCs assembled with [email protected] % provides a specific capacity of 160.1 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹, and still maintains 97.5 % of initial capacity in the 0.5–5.0 A g⁻¹ rate performance tests. More remarkably, the capacity retention rate of ZHSCs can still reach as higher as 90.3 % after 3000 cycles, and with the energy density of 54.7 Wh kg⁻¹ at a power density of 256.5 W kg⁻¹. In summary, the in-situ electrostatic recombination and its synergistic enhancement effect between unconventional conductive polymers and carbon materials opens a new direction for high-performance ZHSCs with long cycle life and high energy output.