Polypyrrole composite electrodes in an all-polymer battery system

We have fabricated an all-polymer battery utilizing the redox properties of electrically conducting polymers for the anode and cathode in conjunction with an ionic conducting polymer gel electrolyte. The anode and cathode consist of pyrrole electropolymerized onto a graphite fiber substrate resulting in a high-surface-area, composite electrode. A polymer gel electrolyte, based on polyacrylonitrile, was solution cast onto the electrodes to form an all-polymer cell. This system exhibits a specific charge capacity of 22 mAh g(-1) based on the electroactive mass of the cathode and discharging the system to 0.4 V. These cells show no loss of capacity when cycled to 100 cycles.