Effects of three fabric weave textures on the electrochemical and electrical properties of reduced graphene/textile flexible electrodes

Abstract

Textile textures formed through woven, knitted or nonwoven weaving technology have critical effects on the electrical and electrochemical properties of flexible electrodes. Therefore, the effects of textile structures, including porosity and pore configuration, on the loading amount of reduction graphene (RGO), the electrical and electrochemical properties were systematically studied. The results show that knitted fabric had the highest mass loading of RGO sheets and lowest sheet resistance among these three fabrics. However, the specific capacitance of woven fabric was optimum 40.5 F g⁻¹ at a scan rate of 5 mV s⁻¹ within the voltage window of 0–0.8 V, which was ascribed to its suitable porosity and pore size firmly anchoring the RGO sheets. Also, the RGO/woven cotton electrodes exhibited good cycling stability and excellent electrochemical stability without an obvious loss in the capacitive performance. The above results provide a theoretical basis for the selection of textile substrates for high-performance flexible electrodes.