Intercalated
flexible electrodes for energy storage devices have
drawn significant research interests as they can provide high energy
densities for powering electronics without sacrificing the overall
flexibility. Herein, we report an intercalated reduced graphene oxide/polyacrylonitrile
(rGO/PAN) flexible supercapacitor electrode fabricated via a layer-by-layer
wet electrospinning (LLwES) process with diluted graphene oxide (GO)
solution as the coagulation liquid and subsequent thermal reduction
treatment. It was observed that a thin GO film was established on
individual PAN nanofiber layer after the wet electrospinning process,
while the subsequent thermal reduction of GO led to simultaneous stabilization
of the PAN fibers and the creation of an interesting three-dimensional
hierarchical carbon nanostructure suitable for flexible, high-performance
electrochemical capacitor (EC) electrodes. The formation of gases
during the thermal treatment expanded the electrospun PAN fiber layers
and resulted in the formation of intercalated nitrogen-doped porosities.
The resulting LLwES rGO/PAN system, thermally treated in a nitrogen
atmosphere, demonstrated exceptional double-layer capacitance of 221
F/g at 10 mV/s, a controllable electrical conductivity of 125 S/m,
and a stable cycling performance retaining a slightly increased capacitance
after 10000 cycles.