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Paper-based conductive electrode materials of polypyrrole (PPy) and nanocellulose (NC) have received much attention lately for applications in non-metal-based energy storage devices, ion exchange, etc. The aim of this study was to study how the primary characteristics of NC raw materials impact and electrochemical properties of conductive NC–PPy composite sheets. Three NC raw materials were used: Cladophora cellulose (NCUU) produced at Uppsala University, Cladophora cellulose (NCFMC) produced at FMC Biopolymer, and microfibrillated cellulose (NCINN) produced at Innventia AB. Composite paper sheets of PPy coated on the substrate NC material were produced. The NC raw materials and the composites were characterized with a battery of techniques to derive their degree of crystallinity, degree of polymerization, specific surface area, pore size distribution, porosity, electron conductivity, charge capacity and tensile properties. It was found that the pore size distribution and overall porosity increase upon coating of NC fibres for all the samples. The charge capacity of the composites was found to decrease with the porosity of the samples. It was further found that the mechanical strength of the pristine NC sheets was largely dependent on the overall porosity, with NCINN having the highest mechanical strength and lowest porosity in the series. The mechanical properties of the composite NC–PPy sheets were significantly diminished as compared with pristine NC sheets because of the impaired H-bonding between fibres and PPy-coated nanofibres. It was concluded that to improve the mechanical properties of PPy–NC sheets, a fraction of additive bare NC fibres is beneficial. Future study may include the effect of both soluble and insoluble additives to improve the mechanical strength of PPy–NC sheets.

Composites of polypyrrole (PPy) and Cladophora nanocellulose, reinforced with 8 mu m-thick chopped carbon filaments, can be used as electrode materials to obtain paper-based energy-storage devices with unprecedented performance at high charge and discharge rates. Charge capacities of more than 200 C g-1 (PPy) are obtained for paper-based electrodes at potential scan rates as high as 500 mV s-1, whereas cell capacitances of 6070 F g-1 (PPy) are reached for symmetric supercapacitor cells with capacitances up to 3.0 F (i.e.,0.48 F cm-2) when charged to 0.6 V using current densities as high as 31 A g-1 based on the PPy weight (i.e., 99 mA cm-2). Energy and power densities of 1.75 Wh kg-1 and 2.7 kW kg-1, respectively, are obtained when normalized with respect to twice the PPy weight of the smaller electrode. No loss in cell capacitance is seen during charging/discharging at 7.7 A g-1 (PPy) over 1500 cycles. It is proposed that the nonelectroactive carbon filaments decrease the contact resistances and the resistance of the reduced PPy composite. The present straightforward approach represents significant progress in the development of low-cost and environmentally friendly paper-based energy-storage devices for high-power applications.

The energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) technique has been used to study ion-exchange processes in conductive polymer composite nanofibers. The elemental distributions of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine, boron, phosphorus, molybdenum, and sulfur within polypyrrole-cellulose nanofibers, used as potential controlled electrochemical solid phase extraction media, have been studied by EFTEM. The distribution of ions within the polypyrrole-cellulose nanofibers and the penetration depth of ions into the material as a function of the size and charge of the latter were investigated. Further, the spatial distribution of single stranded DNA hexamers inside polypyrrole-cellulose nanofibers was mapped subsequent to the electrochemically controlled extraction of DNA from a borate buffer solution. The results show that the EFTEM mapping technique provides unpreceded possibilities for studies of the distribution of ions inside conductive polymer composites.

It is demonstrated that it is possible to coat the individual fibers of wood-based nanocellulose with polypyrrole using in situ chemical polymerization to obtain an electrically conducting continuous high-surface-area composite. The experimental results indicate that the high surface area of the water dispersed material, to a large extent, is maintained upon normal drying without the use of any solvent exchange. Thus, the employed chemical polymerization of polypyrrole on the microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) nanofibers in the hydrogel gives rise to a composite, the structure of which-unlike that of uncoated MFC paper-does not collapse upon drying. The dry composite has a surface area of approximately 90 m(2)/g and a conductivity of approximately 1.5 S/cm, is electrochemically active, and exhibits an ion-exchange capacity for chloride ions of 289 C/g corresponding to a specific capacity of 80 mAh/g. The straightforwardness of the fabrication of the present nanocellulose composites should significantly facilitate industrial manufacturing of highly porous, electroactive conductive paper materials for applications including ion-exchange and paper-based energy storage devices.

The electrochemical properties of a novel composite paper material of high surface area consisting of polypyrrole (PPy) deposited on cellulose derived from Cladophora sp. algae have been investigated in electrolytes containing different concentrations of nitrate, chloride and p-toluene sulfonate, as well as in solutions containing both p-toluene sulfonate and chloride. The oxidation mechanism and the dependence of the oxidation behavior of the polypyrrole, which was obtained by oxidation of pyrrole with iron(III) chloride, on the anion type and concentration have been studied. Current nucleation maxima, appearing at different times depending on the anion concentration, were obtained during the oxidation of the reduced polymers as a result of the combined action of the formation and growth of conducting polymer strands and anion diffusion. No loss of capacity was seen during repeated oxidation and reduction of the polymer indicating that trapping of anions in the reduced polymer did not limit the electroactivity of the present material. The latter can be explained by the thin polymer layer present on the cellulose substrate. During the oxidation of the polymer, the anions most likely first cover most of the surface of the composite before diffusing into the bulk of the polymer. The estimated distance between these surface sites was also found to match the size of the anions. For electrolytes containing a mixture of anions, the oxidation charge depends on the concentration and size of the different anions. The combination of the thin polymer coating and the large specific surface area of the composite give rise to a high ion absorption capacity even for large anions. Hence, the investigated material should be well-suited for use in biotechnological applications involving, e.g., desalting and extraction of proteins and DNA from biological samples.

The electrochemically controlled anion absorption properties of a novel large surface area composite paper material composed of polypyrrole (PPy) and cellulose derived from Cladophora sp. algae, synthesized with two oxidizing agents, iron(III) chloride and phosphomolybdic acid (PMo), were analyzed in four different electrolytes containing anions (i.e., chloride, aspartate, glutamate, and p-toluenesulfonate) of varying size.The composites were characterized with scanning and transmission electron microscopy, N2 gas adsorption,and conductivity measurements. The potential-controlled ion exchange properties of the materials were studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry at varying potentials. The surface area and conductivity of the iron(III) chloride synthesized sample were 58.8 m2/g and 0.65 S/cm, respectively, while the corresponding values for the PMo synthesized sample were 31.3 m2/g and 0.12 S/cm. The number of absorbed ions per sample mass was found to be larger for the iron(III) chloride synthesized sample than for the PMo synthesized one in all four electrolytes. Although the largest extraction yields were obtained in the presence of the smallest anion (i.e., chloride) for both samples, the relative degree of extraction for the largest ions (i.e., glutamate and p-toluenesulfonate) was higher for the PMo sample. This clearly shows that it is possible to increase the extraction yield of large anions by carrying out the PPy polymerization in the presence of large anions. The results likewise show that high ion exchange capacities, as well as extraction and desorption rates, can be obtained for large anions with high surface area composites coated with relatively thin layers of PPy.

Development of thin, flexible, light-weight, renewable, low-cost, and environmentally friendly electrode materials are highly feasible in era of modern disposable electronic technology. This article presents the synthesis and dielectric studies of polypyrrole (PPy) coated pulp fibers, directly collected from wasted egg holder's tray. PPy coated pulp fibers converted into compact sheet for the development of potential renewable and low-cost electrode materials. The morphology, chemical structure, and thermal stability of naked and PPy coated pulp fibril sheets were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. PPy coated pulp fibers revealed better thermal stability and compactness of sheet morphology. Impedance measurements showed a high value of dielectric constant of 1.15 × 106 at 0.5 Hz and conductivity of 7.45 × 10−4 S/cm at room temperature for PPy coated pulp fibril sheet. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42422.

Direct use of lignocelluloses fibers as substrate for fabrication of conductive, electroactive, biodegradable, and low-cost electrode materials are in demand for high-tech applications of ion-exchange and energy storage devices. This article presents the preparation and characterizations of conductive and electroactive lignocelluloses-polyaniline (cellulose/PANI) composite paper. Lignocelluloses fibers were directly collected from the stem of self-growing plant, Typha Angusitfolia, and subsequently coated with the conductive and electroactive layer of PANI through chemical synthesis. Individual PANI-coated lignocelluloses fibers were converted into sheet and further characterized with Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared, Thermogravimetric Analysis, electronic conductivity, and Cyclic Voltammetry. Cellulose/PANI composite paper revealed superior thermal characteristics and used as a working electrode in three different electrolytes for ion-exchange properties. Conductive composite paper (CCP) showed the charge storage capacity of ∼52 C/g at scan rate of 5 mV/s in 2M HCl solution. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42293.

Conducting polymers for battery applications have been subject to numerous investigations during the last two decades. However, the functional charging rates and the cycling stabilities have so far been found to be insufficient for practical applications. These shortcomings can, at least partially, be explained by the fact that thick layers of the conducting polymers have been used to obtain sufficient capacities of the batteries. In the present letter, we introduce a novel nanostructured high-surface area electrode material for energy storage applications composed of cellulose fibers of algal origin individually coated with a 50 nm thin layer of polypyrrole. Our results show the hitherto highest reported charge capacities and charging rates for an all polymer paper-based battery. The composite conductive paper material is shown to have a specific surface area of 80 m(2) g(-1) and batteries based on this material can be charged with currents as high as 600 mA cm(-2) with only 6% loss in capacity over 100 subsequent charge and discharge cycles. The aqueous-based batteries, which are entirely based on cellulose and polypyrrole and exhibit charge capacities between 25 and 33 mAh g(-1) or 38-50 mAh g(-1) per weight of the active material, open up new possibilities for the production of environmentally friendly, cost efficient, up-scalable and lightweight energy storage systems.

Naturally, existing lignocelluloses fibers showed outstanding potential in paper industry and other conventional applications. On the other hand, lignocellulose fibers are suitable candidate for high-tech applications under the scope of abundance, flexibility, light-weight and environment friendliness. In this study, paper sheets were prepared from lignocelluloses fibers extracted from self-growing plant, typha angustifolia. Lignocelluloses paper sheets were characterized for scanning electron microscopy (SEM), universal testing machine (UTM) and vector network analyzer (VNA). Flexible paper sheets displayed a tensile strength of 9.1 MPa and further used as a substrate in patch antenna to observe dielectric characteristics. The patch antenna is designed at 5.1 GHz which showed return loss less than −10 dB and dielectric constant 3.71. The use of lignocelluloses paper sheet as a substrate in patch antenna will provide the opportunity of miniaturization of size and weight in comparison of a jean substrate based antenna.

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