Robust vertically aligned carbon nanotube–carbon fiber paper hybrid as versatile electrodes for supercapacitors and capacitive deionization

We developed a facile method to transfer vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNT) onto a carbon fiber paper (CFP) substrate using silicone as an adhesion layer. The resulting VACNT–CFP hybrid structure displays a very low interface resistance of 0.006 Ω as a result of the Van der Waals interaction at the VACNT–CFP interface. We demonstrated in this work that the VACNT–CFP can be used as a supercapacitor electrode with excellent rate performance and cycling stability, which could be attributed to the vertically alignment and chemical stability of CNTs in the hybrid structure. Further, we found that VACNT–CFP showed good resistance to the impact of flowing water when tested as a capacitive deionizer electrode, owing to superior mechanical robustness of the hybrid structure.