Electrochemical Performance of Screen-Printed Composite Coatings of Conducting Polymers and Carbon Nanotubes on Titanium Bipolar Plates in Aqueous Asymmetrical Supercapacitors

Authors

Xiaohang Zhou, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, and Energy and Sustainability Research Division, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK;
George Z. Chen, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, and Energy and Sustainability Research Division, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK;Follow

Corresponding Author

George Z. Chen(george.chen@nottingham.ac.uk)

Abstract

Composites of conducting polymers (polypyrrole and polyaniline) with acid treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes were formulated into printable aqueous inks, with the aid of functional additives (benzethonium chloride as a surfactant with or without polyvinyl alcohol as a binder). The inks were screen-printed as fairly uniform coatings of various mass loading densities and areas (up to 75 mg cm^-2 and 100 cm²) on thin titanium plates (0.1 mm in thickness). These screen-printed plates were used to fabricate both unit cell and multi-cell stack of asymmetrical supercapacitors with screen-printed negative electrodes of activated carbon (pigment black) in aqueous electrolytes (3.0 mol L^-1 KCl or 1.0 mol L^-1 HCl). In particular, a three-cell stack with two bipolar Ti plates of 100 cm² in screen-printed area was constructed, demonstrating promising technical specifications: 3.0 V in stack voltage, 1.29~1.83 F cm^-2 in electrode capacitance, 2.30~3.24 Wh kg^-1 in specific energy, and 1.04 kW kg^-1 in maximum specific power. Cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charging and discharging, and electrochemical impedance spectrometry were applied to study the composites, screen-printed coatings and individual and bipolarly stacked cells, assisted by optical and electron microscopy.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Screen-printing, supercapacitors, conducting polymers, carbon nanotubes, bipolar plates

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.61558/2993-074X.2623

Publication Date

2012-12-28

Online Available Date

2012-10-06

Revised Date

2012-08-31

Received Date

2012-05-15

Recommended Citation

Xiaohang Zhou, George Z. Chen. Electrochemical Performance of Screen-Printed Composite Coatings of Conducting Polymers and Carbon Nanotubes on Titanium Bipolar Plates in Aqueous Asymmetrical Supercapacitors[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2012 , 18(6): Article 7.
DOI: 10.61558/2993-074X.2623
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol18/iss6/7