A robust polyaniline hydrogel electrode enables superior rate capability at ultrahigh mass loadings

Simultaneously achieving high mass loading and superior rate capability in electrodes is challenging due to their often mutually constrained nature, especially for pseudocapacitors for high-power density applications. Here, we report a robust porous polyaniline hydrogel (PPH) prepared using a facile ice-templated in situ polymerization approach. Owing to the conductive, robust, and porous nanostructures suitable for ultrafast electron and ion transport, the self-supporting pure polyaniline hydrogel electrode exhibits superior areal capacitance without sacrificing rate capability and gravimetric capacitance at an ultrahigh mass loading and notable current density. It achieves a high areal capacitance (15.2 F·cm−2 at 500 mA·cm−2) and excellent rate capability (~92.7% retention from 20 to 500 mA·cm−2) with an ultrahigh mass loading of 43.2 mg cm−2. Our polyaniline hydrogel highlights the potential of designing porous nanostructures to boost the performance of electrode materials and inspires the development of other ultrafast pseudocapacitive electrodes with ultrahigh loadings and fast charge/discharge capabilities. Here, the authors establish a design approach for porous materials with a high mass loading polyaniline electrode by using a radial porous nanostructure. The design approach allows for electrodes with high mass loading and rate capability.