Three dimensional cellular architecture of sulfur doped graphene: self-standing electrode for flexible supercapacitors, lithium ion and sodium ion batteries

Abstract

Tailoring the planar morphology of graphene and the generation of electron-dense active sites on its surface by heteroatom doping is one potential approach to enhance the charge storage performance of graphene based electrode materials. Herein, we have reported the preparation of a three-dimensional self-standing cellular architecture as sulfur-doped graphene foam (SGF) by using the simple self-assembly of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) polymer chains on graphene oxide followed by thermal treatment. Successful homogeneous sulfur doping in a three-dimensional (3D) framework of graphene allowed the material to have a large surface area with bulk electroactive regions on the surface for better interfacial contact with electrolyte ions and hence resulted in unprecedented energy storage capability in a flexible aqueous symmetric supercapacitor (367 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹), a lithium ion battery (1697 mA h g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹), and a sodium ion battery (472 mA h g⁻¹ at 50 mA g⁻¹) as a binder-free electrode material. The outstanding electrochemical performance of the material demonstrates the potential of this synthesis approach for various heteroatom-doped self-standing nano-carbon monoliths on a small as well as a large scale for high-performance energy device fabrication for the advancement of modern electronic devices.