Evolution of flexible 3D graphene oxide/carbon nanotube/polyaniline composite papers and their supercapacitive performance

Polyaniline (PANI) layers are deposited onto the freestanding, flexible reduced graphene oxide/carbon nanotube (RGO/CNT) papers for application as electrodes in supercapacitors. The morphology of PANI and thus the electrochemical performance of the papers are optimized by controlling the in situ anodic electropolymerization (AEP) process. The synergistic effect arising from the 3D PANI layer in the highly conductive RGO/CNT sandwich structure promotes the capacitive performance of RGO/CNT papers. The composite papers electropolymerized for 900 s deliver the most balanced rate capabilities of 229, 202, 181 and 155 F g−1 at current densities of 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2 A g−1, respectively.