Mechanically Robust and Highly Conductive Cellulose Nanopaper Electrodes Enabled by Polyaniline-Graphene Hybrid Networks for Flexible Supercapacitors
- 1University of Wisconsin-Madison , , , ,
- 2Michigan State University , , , ,
Abstract
Flexible, freestanding electrodes with high mechanical robustness, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical performance are highly desirable for wearable energy storage devices. Herein, a hierarchical polyaniline/partially oxidized graphene/cellulose nanopaper (PANI/po-Gr/CNP) electrode was developed by integrating redox-active PANI, conductive po-Gr, and mechanically robust cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). PANI-coated CNFs were first prepared via in situ polymerization, followed by incorporation of po-Gr nanosheets. We vacuum-filtered and dried the resulting hybrid suspension to fabricate a freestanding PANI/po-Gr/CNP electrode. Compared with the po-Gr-free PANI/CNP electrode, the optimized PANI/po-Gr/CNP electrode increased electrical conductivity from 0.16 to 1.85 S·cm–1 while maintaining a comparable tensile strength (∼42 MPa). In a three-electrode configuration, the optimized electrode delivered an areal capacitance of 2.74 F·cm–2 at 5 mV·s–1, corresponding to volumetric and gravimetric capacitances of 342.5 F cm–3 and 572.7 F·g–1 (based on the combined mass of PANI and po-Gr), respectively. The assembled symmetric supercapacitor delivered an areal energy density of 58.08 μWh·cm–2 and a volumetric energy density of 7.26 mWh·cm–3, while retaining 81.0% of its initial capacitance after 10,000 charge–discharge cycles. These results show that combining CNFs, PANI, and po-Gr enables a freestanding electrode with a favorable balance of mechanical robustness, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical performance, offering a promising platform for flexible, wearable supercapacitors.
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BibTeX
@article{gao2026mechanically,
title = {{Mechanically Robust and Highly Conductive Cellulose Nanopaper Electrodes Enabled by Polyaniline-Graphene Hybrid Networks for Flexible Supercapacitors}},
author = {Mengge Gao and Kun Liu and Ningning Tan and Yuanye Jiang and Jiansong Chen and Yaoqi Yin and Aijun Xie and Xuejun Pan and Haishun Du and Sundaram Gunasekaran},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c10164},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/64236/5448173/Mechanically-Robust-and-Highly-Conductive},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mechanically Robust and Highly Conductive Cellulose Nanopaper Electrodes Enabled by Polyaniline-Graphene Hybrid Networks for Flexible Supercapacitors
AU - Mengge Gao
AU - Kun Liu
AU - Ningning Tan
AU - Yuanye Jiang
AU - Jiansong Chen
AU - Yaoqi Yin
AU - Aijun Xie
AU - Xuejun Pan
AU - Haishun Du
AU - Sundaram Gunasekaran
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c10164
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/64236/5448173/Mechanically-Robust-and-Highly-Conductive
AB - Flexible, freestanding electrodes with high mechanical robustness, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical performance are highly desirable for wearable energy storage devices. Herein, a hierarchical polyaniline/partially oxidized graphene/cellulose nanopaper (PANI/po-Gr/CNP) electrode was developed by integrating redox-active PANI, conductive po-Gr, and mechanically robust cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). PANI-coated CNFs were first prepared via in situ polymerization, followed by incorporation of po-Gr nanosheets. We vacuum-filtered and dried the resulting hybrid suspension to fabricate a freestanding PANI/po-Gr/CNP electrode. Compared with the po-Gr-free PANI/CNP electrode, the optimized PANI/po-Gr/CNP electrode increased electrical conductivity from 0.16 to 1.85 S·cm–1 while maintaining a comparable tensile strength (∼42 MPa). In a three-electrode configuration, the optimized electrode delivered an areal capacitance of 2.74 F·cm–2 at 5 mV·s–1, corresponding to volumetric and gravimetric capacitances of 342.5 F cm–3 and 572.7 F·g–1 (based on the combined mass of PANI and po-Gr), respectively. The assembled symmetric supercapacitor delivered an areal energy density of 58.08 μWh·cm–2 and a volumetric energy density of 7.26 mWh·cm–3, while retaining 81.0% of its initial capacitance after 10,000 charge–discharge cycles. These results show that combining CNFs, PANI, and po-Gr enables a freestanding electrode with a favorable balance of mechanical robustness, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical performance, offering a promising platform for flexible, wearable supercapacitors.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -