Electrochemical Performance of Flexible Supercapacitor Electrodes Based on EVA/PANI@CNT Nano-Composite

Abstract

The innovation of a flexible supercapacitor is the valuable establishment of conductive and charge storage materials into stretchy frameworks due to incorporating physical elasticity with the fundamentally high-power density of supercapacitors. Flexible supercapacitors have a lot of potential as power sources for next-generation flexible electronics since they are safer, more robust, and mechanically more stable than current batteries. This paper explains the construction of flexible cathode electrodes for supercapacitors made of EVA thermoplastic film, polyaniline, and carbon nanotubes. Herein, by combining Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), Polyaniline (PANI)’s pseudo-capacitance, and the charge transport ability of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), EVA/PANI@CNT flexible films were constructed as supercapacitor cathode electrodes with brilliant electrochemical performance and elasticity. Electron beam irradiation at 100 kGy is used in crosslinking carbon nanotubes/polyaniline (PANI@CNT) composites with ethylene-vinyl acetate. These electrode materials were prepared with different concentrations of nanostructures (PANI@CNT) (50, 60, and 70%) concerning EVA thermoplastic film as a current collector. Then study the electrochemical performance of prepared conductive polymeric films without and with EBI at 100 kGy. The improvement in electrochemical performance of the flexible cathode electrodes is theoretically due to the creation of structural defects upon irradiation. Also, the structure, phase, and avascularity of as-prepared films were verified utilizing XRD, FTIR, and Raman. This study proves that optimizing the concentration of the electroactive material/current collector interface can apply faster electron transport and constitutes a powerful strategy to reinforce the electrochemical capacitive properties of supercapacitors.