Abstract: In this work, a synergistic strategy of "polymer-assisted metal deposition-intra-fabric lithography-controllable electropolymerization" was adopted to realize the controllable preparation of fabric-based polyaniline interdigitated electrodes. Polyester fiber fabric was used as the substrate: the fabric was metallized via the polymer-assisted metal deposition method, then high-resolution metal interdigitated current collectors were fabricated through intra-fabric lithography, and finally polyaniline was electropolymerized on the surface of metal current collectors by the potentiostatic method. The controllable loading of active materials was achieved by adjusting the polymerization time in the range of 5-15 min. The results showed that the optimal polymerization time was 12.5 min, and the areal specific capacitance of the electrode prepared under this condition reached 16.4 mF/cm2. After 1000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 0.15 mA/cm2, the capacitance retention rate reached 91.6%, and the electrode exhibited excellent rate performance at different scan rates and current densities. Flexibility tests indicated that the electrode had stable resistance at different bending angles, with its resistance only increasing by 0.15 Ω after 1000 cycles of 180° bending, showing good mechanical flexibility. The electrode prepared by this method fully retains the inherent three-dimensional network structure of the fabric and achieves a synergistic combination of high capacitive performance and excellent flexibility, which provides a new approach for the preparation of fabric-based planar interdigitated supercapacitors.

Key words: Fabric substrate; Polyaniline, Electropolymerization, Interdigitated electrode, Capacitive performance