Capacitance properties of unipolar pulsed electro‐polymerized PEDOT films

ABSTRACT Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) film has been prepared on conductive carbon paper (CP) substrates by unipolar pulse electrochemical deposition. The effects of different polymerization parameters, including pulse potential and width, deposition frequency, and duty cycle on the capacitance of PEDOT films, were studied by cyclic voltammetry in 0.5 M sulfuric acid solution. The PEDOT‐coated CP electrode was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to confirm the three‐dimensional porous structure and the presence of dopant ion conjugation during the electro‐polymerization. The results of cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge‐discharge show that the PEDOT electrodes exhibit good specific capacitance of 151.31 F/g, rate performance and stability with a retention rate of 80.25% after 5000 cycles. The thin, lightweight electrode materials show considerable potential for low‐cost, high‐performance energy storage applications. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 46729.