MnO2 nanotubes assembled on conductive graphene/polyester composite fabric as a three-dimensional porous textile electrode for flexible electrochemical capacitors

A three-dimensional (3D) electrode material was successfully synthesized through a facile ZnO-assisted hydrothermal process in which vertical MnO2 nanotube arrays were in situ grown on the conductive graphene/polyester composite fabric. The morphology and structure of MnO2 nanotubes/graphene/polyester textile electrode were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The 3D electrode structure facilitates to achieve the maximum number of active sites for the pesudocapacitance redox reaction, fast electrolyte ion transportation and short ion diffusion path. The electrochemical measurements showed that the electrode possesses good capacitance capacity which reached 498 F/g at a scan rate of 2 mV/s in Na2SO4 electrolyte solution. The electrode also showed stable electrochemical performances under the conditions of long-term cycling, and mechanical bending and twisting. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.