High-Efficiency Flexible and Foldable Paper-Based Supercapacitors Using Water-Dispersible Polyaniline-Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) and Poly(vinyl alcohol) as Conducting Agent and Polymer Matrix

For the first time, common printing paper is converted to electrode for high-performance flexible and foldable electrochemical supercapacitor using water-dispersible conductive polymer, polyaniline-poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PANI-PAAMPSA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as conducting agent and polymer matrix, respectively. PANI-PAAMPSA is used to convert insulating paper to conductive substrate while PVA provides ion channels for electrolyte as well as mechanical durability for paper substrate. The paper-based supercapacitors exhibit excellent electrochemical energy storage capability. The maximum mass and area specific capacitances of the paper-based supercapacitors reached up to 41 F g -1 and 45 mF cm -2 at 20 mV s -1 , respectively. In addition, the PANI-PAAMPSA/PVA/paper-based supercapacitors demonstrate high mechanical durability and flexibility during the bending tests. The specific capacitance of the paper-based supercapacitors are changed up to 16 % compared to the initial value as they are bent progressively from 0° to 100°. The excellent electrochemical stability of the paper-based supercapacitors is attributed to high water dispersibility and conductivity of PANI-PAAMPSA. The high mechanical durability is attributed to employment of PVA as robust polymer matrix allowing for ion channels of electrolyte. Our work can open up opportunities of next-generation paper-based electronics and energy storage devices.