The capacitance and shape memory effect of highly stretchable and flexible nanocomposite electrodes based on polyaniline

The increasing demand for portable and flexible energy storage devices drives the rapid development of flexible electrodes and electrolytes. Meanwhile, the free-standing polymer electrodes face great chance and challenge. In this work, the stretchable and flexible polyaniline/carbon nanotube/poly(vinyl alcohol) electrode (PANI/CNT/PVA-E) was fabricated by in-situ polymerization of aniline in CNT/PVA-E substrate, where CNT was used to enhance the conductivity and mechanical properties of the polymer electrodes. Compared with PANI/PVA, the comprehensive performance of PANI/CNT/PVA-E was improved. In addition, the electrochemical performance and tensile property of the electrodes depended on the CNT content. The nanocomposite electrode with 0.25% of CNT possessed optimal properties with high capacitance of 248.69 mF cm −2 , and 75.29% of capacity retention over 4000 charge–discharge cycles at 1 mA cm −2 . It also exhibited outstanding tensile strength of 3.88 MPa and elongation up to 462.3%. Interestingly, the electrode possessed good heat driven shape memory effect. The temporary shape could be fixed at 70°C under extra force, and the fixed shape recovered within 10 s when it was reheated to the same temperature. It is concluded that the present work may contribute to the development and fabrication of flexible energy-storage devices, portable and highly stretchable electric devices.