Electrochemical properties of the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/single-walled carbon nanotubes composite synthesized by solid-state heating method

The poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/single-walled carbon nanotubes (PEDOT/SWNTs) composites with content of SWNTs varying from 4 wt% to 12 wt% were prepared by a simple solid-state heating method. The results from FTIR and UV–vis spectra showed that the composites were successfully performed by this method, and the strong interactions between the PEDOT and SWNTs occurred in the composite with 8 wt% SWNTs as compared to other composites. The galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements indicated that the PEDOT/SWNTs composite had higher specific capacitances than PEDOT, and the composite with 8 wt% SWNTs had the highest specific capacitance among the composites. The morphological studies showed that the composite with 8 wt% SWNTs exhibited a mixture of the plate-like PEDOT and nonuniformly distributed SWNTs. The further electrochemical tests on the composite with 8 wt% SWNTs showed that the composite had a high specific capacitance of 188 F g−1 at 0.5 mA cm−2 and a capacity retention of 66% over 1300 cycles.

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► PEDOT/SWNTs composite is prepared with a simple solid-state heating method.
► The PEDOT/SWNTs composite has higher specific capacitances than PEDOT.
► The PEDOT/SWNTs composite has a high specific capacitance of 188 F g−1 at 0.5 mA cm−2 and a capacity retention of 66% over 1300 cycles.