Design of a High Performance Thin All-Solid-State Supercapacitor Mimicking the Active Interface of Its Liquid-State Counterpart

Here we report an all-solid-state supercapacitor (ASSP) which closely mimics the electrode–electrolyte interface of its liquid-state counterpart by impregnating polyaniline (PANI)-coated carbon paper with polyvinyl alcohol-H2SO4 (PVA-H2SO4) gel/plasticized polymer electrolyte. The well penetrated PVA-H2SO4 network along the porous carbon matrix essentially enhanced the electrode–electrolyte interface of the resulting device with a very low equivalent series resistance (ESR) of 1 Ω/cm2 and established an interfacial structure very similar to a liquid electrolyte. The designed interface of the device was confirmed by cross-sectional elemental mapping and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The PANI in the device displayed a specific capacitance of 647 F/g with an areal capacitance of 1 F/cm2 at 0.5 A/g and a capacitance retention of 62% at 20 A/g. The above values are the highest among those reported for any solid-state-supercapacitor. The whole device, including the electrolyte, shows a capacitance of 12 F/g with a significantly low leakage current of 16 μA2. Apart from this, the device showed excellent stability for 10000 cycles with a coulombic efficiency of 100%. Energy density of the PANI in the device is 14.3 Wh/kg.