Energy Storage Performance of Supercapacitors with Polyelectrolyte Surface Coatings: Effects of Dielectric Contrast

Yi-Yao Han; Ming-Yu Chen; Xiao-Fei Xu

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3710-x

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Energy Storage Performance of Supercapacitors with Polyelectrolyte Surface Coatings: Effects of Dielectric Contrast

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-08-31

- Energy Storage Performance of Supercapacitors with Polyelectrolyte Surface Coatings: Effects of Dielectric Contrast
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 9, Pages: 3189-3202(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and School of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
- Author bio：
  
  xuxf@ecust.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3710-x
  CLC：
- Received：25 February 2026，
  
  Revised：2026-03-26，
  
  Accepted：08 April 2026，
  
  Online First：20 July 2026，
  
  Published：05 September 2026
- Accepted：
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Han, Y. Y.; Chen, M. Y.; Xu, X. F. Energy storage performance of supercapacitors with polyelectrolyte surface coatings: effects of dielectric contrast. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3189–3202

Yi-Yao Han, Ming-Yu Chen, Xiao-Fei Xu. Energy Storage Performance of Supercapacitors with Polyelectrolyte Surface Coatings: Effects of Dielectric Contrast[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(9): 3189-3202.
Han, Y. Y.; Chen, M. Y.; Xu, X. F. Energy storage performance of supercapacitors with polyelectrolyte surface coatings: effects of dielectric contrast. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3189–3202 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3710-x.

Yi-Yao Han, Ming-Yu Chen, Xiao-Fei Xu. Energy Storage Performance of Supercapacitors with Polyelectrolyte Surface Coatings: Effects of Dielectric Contrast[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(9): 3189-3202. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3710-x.

摘要

Classical density functional theory is employed to study the energy storge performance of supercapacitor with polyelectrolyte surface coating. The dielectric contrast effects between the electrode substrate and the solvent are explicitly accounted. It is found that the dielectric contrast plays a decisive role in determining the energy storage performance.

Abstract

The interfacial structure at the electrode-electrolyte interface is a critical determinant of the performance of electrochemical supercapacitors. Although grafting polyelectrolyte (PE) brushes onto electrodes is a promising strategy to enhance charge storage

the role of dielectric contrast and its coupling with PE microstructure remains to be studied. In this work

a classical density functional theory (cDFT) is employed to elucidate the synergistic effects of dielectric contrast and PE microstructure on supercapacitor performance. The theory explicitly accounts for image-charge interaction induced by dielectric discontinuity

chain correlation of the PE

excluded volume effect

and electrostatic correlation. The results reveal that increasing the grafting density and chain length of the PE brushes significantly enhances the capacitance by providing more immobile charge sites and expanding the effective double-layer region

which facilitates stronger counterion adsorption. It is found that the dielectric contrast between the electrode substrate and solvent

which is often oversimplified in idealized models

plays a decisive role. A higher dielectric permittivity of the substrate weakens the shielding effect of the polarization field within the electrode. Consequently

the external electric field provides a stronger influence on the electrolyte

promoting a denser accumulation of counterions at the interface. Crucially

a high-dielectric substrate mitigates the repulsive image-charge interaction

effectively transforming it into an attractive force that further adsorbs charge near the electrode. This effect becomes particularly pronounced at high surface potentials. These results provide fundamental insights into the optimization of high-performance SCs using PE coatings.

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references

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