A self-standing nanocomposite foam of polyaniline@reduced graphene oxide for flexible super-capacitors

• Self-standing 3D nanocomposite foam of polyaniline and rGO has been fabricated.
• The nanocomposite foam possesses high porosity, low density and good flexibility.
• The nanocomposite foam displays a high specific capacitance of 701 F g−1.
• The bended symmetric pseudocapacitor was prepared based on nanocomposite foam.

Self-standing three-dimensional nanocomposite foam of polyaniline (PANI) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been fabricated by a convenient template-directed preparation of rGO and subsequent in situ polymerization of aniline on pre-formed rGO foam, which can be directly used as electrodes for flexible supercapacitors. The nanocomposite foam of PANI@rGO possesses the advantages of self-standing, foam-like high porosity, low density (∼8.3 mg cm−3), good flexibility and improved durability, which collaboratively lead to superior electrochemical performance, as a result of enhanced charge-transfer and mechanical support afforded by the rGO skeleton. The nanocomposite-based supercapacitor not only displays a high specific capacitance of 701 F g−1 at the current density of 1 A g−1, but also demonstrates improved cycling stability, retaining 92% of its starting capacitance after 1000 charge–discharge cycles. Moreover, the bended symmetric pseudocapacitor based on the flexible nanocomposite foam of PANI@rGO exhibits a high specific capacitance of 285 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, indicating excellent potential for real energy storage in flexible supercapacitors. The approach presented here shows great promise for the development of flexible low-density electrode materials with good potential for applications in portable electronic devices.

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