596
(Invited) Rapidly Switching Conjugated Polymers in Redox Active Devices: Supercapacitors As a Case Study

Monday, 2 October 2017: 10:00
Chesapeake 6 (Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center)
J. R. Reynolds (Georgia Institute of Technology)
When considering pseudocapacitive materials for use in supercapacitors, one must take into account many concerns including their electrochemical potential window, electrolyte compatability, processability, active material morphology, and redox switching speed. In this lecture, we will report on a family of rapidly switching electron-rich polymers, which can be utilized in both organic and aqueous electrolyte systems. To accomplish this, we have designed fully soluble and solution processed 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene/3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (ProDOTx/EDOTy) copolymers that are electrochemically equivalent to electropolymerized PEDOT without using surfactants or dispersants. We show that these copolymers can be incorporated as active layers in solution processed thin film supercapacitors to demonstrate similar capacitance, stability, and voltage as those that use electrodeposited PEDOT as the active material with the added advantage of the possibility for large scale, and high-throughput processing. A new “water soluble/solvent resistant” route will be described towards developing especially aqueous compatible polymers. Type I supercapacitors will be described which provide exceptional cell voltages (up to 1.6 V) and highly symmetrical charge/discharge behavior, along with promising long-term stability exceeding 50,000 charge/discharge cycles.