Reduced graphene oxide and polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide composite coated stretchable fabric electrodes for supercapacitor application

• Stretchable rGO coated fabric electrode was prepared by a dyeing approach.
• This conductive fabric could sustain conductivity at 200% strain.
• Its specific capacitance was improved after a polypyrrole coating.
• These stretchable electrodes showed improved performance at 50% strain.

The advent of self-powered functional garments has given rise to a demand for stretchable energy storage devices that are amendable to integration into textile structures. The electromaterials (anode, cathode and separator) are expected to sustain a deformation of 3% to 55% associated with body movement. Here, we report a stretchable fabric supercapacitor electrode using commonly available nylon lycra fabric as the substrate and graphene oxide (GO) as a dyestuff. It was prepared via a facile dyeing approach followed by a mild chemical reduction. This reduced graphene oxide (rGO) coated fabric electrode retains conductivity at an applied strain of up to 200%. It delivers a specific capacitance of 12.3 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 in 1.0 M lithium sulfate aqueous solution. The capacitance is significantly increased to 114 F g−1 with the addition of a chemically synthesized polypyrrole (PPy) coating. This PPy-rGO-fabric electrode demonstrates an improved cycling stability and a higher capacitance at 50% strain when compared to the performance observed with no strain.