Vertically Aligned Graphene–Carbon Fiber Hybrid Electrodes with Superlong Cycling Stability for Flexible Supercapacitors

Graphene electrode–based supercapacitors are in high demand due to their superior electrochemical characteristics. A major bottleneck of using the supercapacitors for commercial applications lies in their inferior electrode cycle life. Herein, a simple and facile method to fabricate highly efficient supercapacitor electrodes using pristine graphene sheets vertically stacked and electrically connected to the carbon fibers which can result in vertically aligned graphene–carbon fiber nanostructure is developed. The vertically aligned graphene–carbon fiber electrode prepared by electrophoretic deposition possesses a mesoporous 3D architecture which enabled faster and efficient electrolyte‐ion diffusion with a gravimetric capacitance of 333.3 F g −1 and an areal capacitance of 166 mF cm −2 . The electrodes displayed superlong electrochemical cycling stability of more than 100 000 cycles with 100% capacitance retention hence promising for long‐lasting supercapacitors. Apart from the electrochemical double layer charge storage, the oxygen‐containing surface moieties and α‐Ni(OH) 2 present on the graphene sheets enhance the charge storage by faradaic reactions. This enables the assembled device to provide an excellent gravimetric energy density of 76 W h kg −1 with a 100% capacitance retention even after 1000 bending cycles. This study opens the door for developing high‐performing flexible graphene electrodes for wearable energy storage applications.