Ternary composite electrodes based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/carbon nanotubes-carboxyl graphene for improved electrochemical capacitive performances

Co-electrodeposited poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/carbon nanotubes-carboxyl graphene (PEDOT/CNT-CG) ternary composite is reported herein. Thereinto, the CG is prepared from graphene oxide (GO) by carboxylation treatment, during which the hydroxyl and epoxide groups on the basal plane of GO nanosheets are converted into carboxyl groups. Compared to PEDOT/CNT-GO composite, PEDOT/CNT-CG composite shows markedly improved electrochemical capacitive performances, because the latter composite takes full advantage of carboxyl groups distributed on both edges and basal planes of CG sheets to combine with PEDOT coating, unlike only utilizing the edged carboxyl groups on GO sheets for the former composite. This study provides a new platform to construct CG based composite electrodes for high performance supercapacitor applications.