Laser-induced graphene electrodes scribed onto novel carbon black-doped polyethersulfone membranes for flexible high-performance microsupercapacitors

Sabrine Baachaoui; Walid Mabrouk; Amal Rabti; Ouassim Ghodbane; Noureddine Raouafi

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.024

Laser-induced graphene electrodes scribed onto novel carbon black-doped polyethersulfone membranes for flexible high-performance microsupercapacitors

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Sep 15:646:1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.024. Epub 2023 May 9.

Authors

Sabrine Baachaoui¹, Walid Mabrouk², Amal Rabti³, Ouassim Ghodbane³, Noureddine Raouafi⁴

Affiliations

¹ University of Tunis El Manar, Chemistry Department, Analytical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Lab (LR99ES15), Tunis El Manar 2092, Tunisia.
² CERTE, Laboratory Water, Membranes and Environmental Biotechnology, Water Research and Technologies Center, Technologic Park Borj Cedria, BP 273, Soliman 8020, Tunisia.
³ National Institute of Research and Physicochemical Analysis (INRAP), Laboratory of Materials, Treatment, and Analysis (LMTA), Biotechpole Sidi Thabet, 2020 Sidi Thabet, Tunisia.
⁴ University of Tunis El Manar, Chemistry Department, Analytical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Lab (LR99ES15), Tunis El Manar 2092, Tunisia. Electronic address: noureddine.raouafi@fst.utm.tn.

PMID: 37178610
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.024

Abstract

A facile and expandable methodology was successfully developed to fabricate laser-induced graphene from novel pristine aminated polyethersulfone (amPES) membranes. The as-prepared materials were applied as flexible electrodes for microsupercapacitors. The doping of amPES membranes with various weight percentages of carbon black (CB) microparticles was then performed to improve their energy storage performance. The lasing process allowed the formation of sulfur- and nitrogen-codoped graphene electrodes. The effect of electrolyte on the electrochemical performance of as-prepared electrodes was investigated and the specific capacitance was significantly enhanced in 0.5 M HClO₄. Remarkably, the highest areal capacitance of 47.3 mF·cm^-2 was achieved at a current density of 0.25 mA·cm^-2. This capacitance is approximately 12.3 times higher than the average value for commonly used polyimide membranes. Furthermore, the energy and power densities were as high as 9.46 µWh·cm^-2 and 0.3 mW·cm^-2 at 0.25 mA·cm^-2, respectively. The galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments confirmed the excellent performance and stability of amPES membranes during 5,000 cycles, where more than 100% of capacitance retention was achieved and the coulombic efficiency was improved up to 96.67%. Consequently, the fabricated CB-doped PES membranes offer several advantages including low carbon fingerprint, cost-effectiveness, high electrochemical performance and potential applications in wearable electronic systems.

Keywords: Doped membranes; Energy Storage; Flexible supercapacitors; Laser-induced Graphene; Polyethersulfone.