Synthesis of polythiophene with zigzag morphology on pencil graphite electrode and investigation of energy storage properties in supercapacitors

Abstract Herein, polythiophene-based supercapacitor electrode materials were successfully synthesized by the electropolymerization method. Thymol blue, bromothymol blue, and bromophenol blue were added to the polythiophene polymerization medium as dopants, and the energy storage properties of the thiophene-based electrode material were investigated. Polythiophene/bromothymol blue (PTh/BTB) gave the polythiophene an interesting zigzag morphology, which is unique in the literature (specific surface area of PTh/BTB and PTh: 32.629 m 2 g −1 and 13.812 m 2 g −1 ). The electrode performance of PTh/BTB shows a maximum specific capacitance of 443.5 F g −1 at 5 mV s −1 . The symmetrical supercapacitor achieved a maximum energy density of 9.7 Wh kg −1 and a maximum power density of 5000 W kg −1 . The capacitance retention value exhibited a steady state of 79.2% up to 10,000 cycles. Graphical abstract