A novel codoping approach for enhancing the performance of polypyrrole cathode in a bioelectric battery

A conducting polymer (CP) based bioelectric battery provides a promising alternative to commercial lithium batteries to drive biomedical devices. However, the low power density limits practical application. Here, we synthesize a polypyrrole (PPy)/anthraquinone sulfonate (AQS)/reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) composite via a facile electrochemical route, and use this as a novel cathode material for bioelectric batteries. The presence of r-GO significantly enhanced the electrochemical properties of PPy and led to greatly improved cell performance compared to that of PPy/AQS. The resultant PPy/AQS/r-GO composite delivered a maximum power density of 6240.5 mW m−2, 14.2 times higher than that of PPy/p-toluenesulfonate (pTS) as reported previously.