Electronic Booster PEDOT:PSS-Enriched Guar Gum as Eco-Friendly Gel Electrolyte for Supercapacitor

Supercapacitors based on biobased materials have been regarded as alternative portable energy storage technology for wearable or flexible electronics. Herein, we construct a unique electronic booster-imbedded biopolymer electrolyte with enhanced power density and long cycling life quasi-solid-state supercapacitor using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) PEDOT:PSS/guar gum (GG). The eco-friendly 2% (v/v) PEDOT:PSS in the GG matrix doped with 0.05 wt % of lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄) was highly flexible and showed an ionic conductivity of 10^-2 S cm^-1 at 323 K. The surface morphology showed unique potential wells of PEDOT:PSS boosting the nonconductive GG and interaction with activated carbon-based electrodes. As a result, a specific capacitance of 141 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s^-1 was observed. The cyclic stability was 98% even after 1000 charge-discharge study cycles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work demonstrating a high-performance supercapacitor with conducting polymer-boosted guar gum as the polymer gel electrolyte, and it provides scope for understanding further stability testing and the interaction mechanism within the polymer matrix.