Bicontinuous nanotubular graphene–polypyrrole hybrid for high performance flexible supercapacitors

• 3D bicontinuous nanoporous graphene–polypyrrole composites were successfully developed.
• Bicontinuous nanoporous graphene network significantly enhances the psudocapacitance of polypyrrole.
• The hybrid composites demonstrate high stability and large specific capacitance.
• The flexible supercapacitor delivers ultra-high power density and energy density.

Conductive polymers, particularly polypyrrole (PPy), are emerging as promising electrode materials for flexible supercapacitors because of their high pseudocapacitance, low density, high mechanical flexibility and low material costs. However, the practical implementations of PPy based supercapacitors have been prevented by the poor charge/discharge rate capability and low cycle stability. In this study we report a novel three dimensional interconnected nanotubular graphene–PPy (nt-GPPy) hybrid by incorporating PPy into highly conductive and stable nanoporous graphene. The bicontinuous nanotubular hybrid material with a large specific surface area and high conductivity demonstrates significant enhancement in supercapacitance performance of PPy in terms of high specific capacitance, excellent cycling stability and high rate capability.

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