Substituent effect on supercapacitive performances of conducting polymer‐based redox electrodes: Poly(3′,4′‐bis(alkyloxy) 2,2′:5′,2″‐terthiophene) derivatives

Abstract

This work reports the synthesis of novel poly(3′,4′‐bis(alkyloxy)terthiophene) derivatives (PTTOBu, PTTOHex, and PTTOOct) and their supercapacitor applications as redox‐active electrodes. The terthiophene‐based conducting polymers have been derivatized with different alkyl pendant groups (butyl‐, hexyl‐, and octyl‐) to explore the effect of alkyl chain length on the surface morphologies and pseudocapacitive properties. The electrochemical performance tests have revealed that the length of alkyl substituent created a remarkable impact over the surface morphologies and charge storage properties of polymer electrodes. PTTOBu, PTTOHex, and PTTOOct‐based electrodes have reached up to specific capacitances of 94.3, 227.3, and 443 F g−1 at 2.5 mA cm−2 constant current density, respectively, in a three‐electrode configuration. Besides, these redox‐active electrodes have delivered satisfactory energy densities of 13.5, 29.3, and 60.7 W h kg−1 and power densities of 0.98, 1, and 1.1 kW kg−1 with good capacitance retentions after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles in symmetric solid‐state micro‐supercapacitor devices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018, 56, 480–495

Enabling Conducting Polymer Applications: Methods for Achieving High Molecular Weight in Chemical Oxidative Polymerization in Alkyl- and Ether-Substituted Thiophenes

“…1 H NMR ( Figure S2 , 400 MHz, CDCl 3 ) δ: 6.16 (s, 2H), 3.98 (t, 4H), 1.81 (p, 4H), 1.44 (m, 4H), 1.33 (m, 8H), 0.90 (t, 6H); Lit. [ 49 ]: 6.15 (s, 2H), 3.98 (t, 4H), 1.81 (m, 4H), 1.35–1.43 (m, 12H), 0.97 (t, 6H).…”

Thiophene-Based Trimers and Their Bioapplications: An Overview

“…Typically, two O-connected alkyl chains (one per lateral unit) are found in 3 and 3″ [ 71 , 283 , 284 , 285 , 286 ] or in 4 and 4″ position of the trimer ( Scheme 16 , I) [ 287 , 288 , 289 , 290 , 291 , 292 , 293 , 294 ]. Besides, structures with one [ 295 , 296 ] or two [ 297 , 298 ] alkoxy groups on the central thiophene, in 3′ and 4′ position, were synthesized. Methoxy [ 283 ], ethoxy [ 296 ], butyloxy [ 298 ], pentyloxy [ 88 , 287 ], hexyloxy [ 290 , 298 ], octyloxy [ 298 ], decyloxy [ 290 , 299 ] pendant groups, among many, have been reported.…”

“…Besides, structures with one [ 295 , 296 ] or two [ 297 , 298 ] alkoxy groups on the central thiophene, in 3′ and 4′ position, were synthesized. Methoxy [ 283 ], ethoxy [ 296 ], butyloxy [ 298 ], pentyloxy [ 88 , 287 ], hexyloxy [ 290 , 298 ], octyloxy [ 298 ], decyloxy [ 290 , 299 ] pendant groups, among many, have been reported. Another type of common ether-based pendant group is poly(ethylene glycol).…”

Improvement of morphological structure and electrochemical charge storage performance of a new poly(terthiophene)-based conducting film through side-chain engineering

“…A suitable electrode morphology not only provides a large electroactive surface area for faradaic redox processes but also facilitates ion movements with abundant diffusion pathways to store more electrical charges. 62–65 In this context, controlling the morphological properties can be considered an effective tool to enhance the charge storage capacities of PTh-based pseudocapacitive electrodes.…”

“…Previously, redox-active electrode materials have been prepared using poly(terthiophene) and poly(3,6-dithienylcarbazole) derivatives that contain various alkyl and oxyethylene pendant groups and they have exhibited very different and unique morphological structures with an increase in the substituent chain length. 62–65 Consequently, a wide range of charge storage performances have been achieved with almost equal amounts of electroactive material under the same evaluation conditions, only depending on the morphological features.…”