Incorporation of conductive polymer into soft carbon electrodes for lithium ion capacitors

The positive effects of incorporating electrically conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT-PSS) into the negative electrode (NE) of a lithium ion capacitor (LIC) is investigated. The binding material of the NE, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), is partially substituted by conductive PEDOT-PSS. The soft carbon NE with 1.0 wt% PEDOT-PSS exhibits enhanced capacity retention of 64% at a current density of 5 C by lowering its electrical and electrochemical charge transfer resistance. The rate capability increased with increasing amounts of PEDOT-PSS, with no variation in the Li⁺ diffusivity. This improved electrochemical performance of the NE is also reflected in the LIC full-cell configuration. An LIC employing a 1.0 wt% PEDOT-PSS NE delivers 6.6 F at a high current density of 100 C, which is higher than the 6.0 F measured for the LIC with a bare NE. Moreover, the LIC with the 1.0 wt% PEDOT-PSS NE retains 85% of its initial capacitance even after 5000 cycles. These results are mainly attributed to the favourable electrical network formed by the incorporation of PEDOT-PSS into the NE. Thus, we believe that the incorporation of conductive PEDOT-PSS is a viable approach for obtaining high-power LICs.