Electrochimica Acta, Vol.103, 9-14, 2013
Investigations of poly(pyrrole)-coated cotton fabrics prepared in blends of anionic and cationic surfactants as flexible electrode
In recent years, much effort has been dedicated to achieve lightweight, stretchable and flexible energy-storage devices for wearable electronics. Here we report an everyday cotton fabric coated with poly(pyrrole) as flexible electrodes. Poly(pyrrole) nanoparticles are synthesized on the fabrics via a simple chemical polymerization process with the mixed surfactants of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) as soft template. A highly conductive fabric with surface resistance of 14 Omega/square can be produced by changing surfactant concentration. Such a conductive textile shows outstanding flexibility and stretchability, and demonstrates strong adhesion between the PPy and the cellulose fiber. The fabric electrode exhibits a discharge capacity of 51.7 mAh g(-1) with high cycling stability (negligible decay after 100 cycles). (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.