High Stable Supercapacitors Based on Poly(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-2-yl)methanol Nanonet@Nanotube Array by Template-Free Electrochemical Preparation

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and its derivatives provide an excellent platform as electrode materials for supercapacitors due to their superior stability and conductivity. In this study, a poly(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-2-yl)methanol (PEDOT-MeOH) porous nanonet (PEDOT-MeOH-PNN), PEDOT-MeOH hollow nanotube array (PEDOT-MeOH-HNA) and PEDOT-MeOH-PNN coated PEDOT-MeOH-HNA (PEDOT-MeOH-PNN@PEDOT-MeOH-HNA) are successfully fabricated using a template-free electrodeposition of (2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-2-yl)methanol monomer. These three nanostructures were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectrum and Raman spectrum, scanning electron microscopy, thermal analysis and electrochemical methods, respectively. PEDOT-MeOH-PNN@PEDOT-MeOH-HNA has a specific capacitance of 40.5 mF cm−2 at 40 mV s−1, which is higher than PEDOT-MeOH-PNN (21.6 mF cm−2) and PEDOT-MeOH-HNA (35.5 mF cm−2). Moreover, the PEDOT-MeOH-PNN@PEDOT-MeOH-HNA based symmetric supercapacitor delivers excellent rate performance and superior cycling stability (90% of the initial capacitance remains after 10,000 cycles). The results indicate that the structural design of a supercapacitor electrode can improve their electrochemical performance, and promote the application and development of conducting polymers in the field of supercapacitors.