Abstract
Controlling the nanostructure of conducting polymers (CPs) is essential
for enhancing their performance in energy storage applications. Existing
CPs often suffer from low effective pseudocapacitance due to poor ion
permeability. In this study, we introduce a novel approach using
hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) to synthesize porous
poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT). By leveraging the flexible
hydrogen-bonding interactions, we incorporated
3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) into HOF-16. Following in situ
polymerization of EDOT, the HOF-16 was removed to form a porous,
interconnected network of PEDOT. Electrochemical evaluations
demonstrated that the porous PEDOT exhibited significantly enhanced
performance, including high specific capacitance, excellent rate
capability, and ~95% capacitance retention after 10,000
cycles. Compared to PEDOT without HOF, the porous PEDOT showed a 34%
increase in specific capacitance and a 10% improvement in 10,000-cycle
capacitance retention. This work highlights the potential of HOF-enabled
synthesis in creating high-performance conducting polymers, offering a
new avenue to improve supercapacitor performance, particularly in terms
of capacitance and stability.