Polyaniline/fullerene derivative nanocomposite for highly efficient supercapacitor electrode
Introduction
The era of renewable energy resources began due to the harmful effects of the green-house gasses emission which caused by traditional fossil fuel-based resources. These renewable sources need an energy storage device to store these forms of energy. Supercapacitors, also known ultracapacitors are considered as the most candidate for energy storage device that have a relatively high energy density compared to conventional capacitor and higher power density than batteries. Supercapacitors have numerous advantages when compared with lithium ion batteries such as long life cycle (> 100,000 cycles) due to the absence of chemical reactions, fast charging-discharging capability, widespread operating temperature and great power density (often> 10 kW/kg) [1,2]. Based on the chemical composition, there are three types of supercapacitor electrode materials; carbon-based, conducting polymers and metal oxides.
Conducting polymers are broadly studied for supercapacitor in recent years. Although their low mechanical stability and short cycle life due to imperfect reversibility of redox reaction that influences on the shape of electrode, there are great efforts to overcome these problems. Polyaniline (PANI) is the most studied conducting polymers as battery material or electrode in supercapacitors device [[3], [4], [5]]. PANI has many attractive properties for energy storage application such as low cost, facile synthesis, different oxidation states and high doping level that enhance the electrical conductivity of PANI. Moreover, the reported specific capacitance of PANI in range of 30–3000 F/g is attributed to the variation of polyaniline structure, morphology and level of doping [6].
The key factor to get large specific capacitance with good cyclability and high rate capability can be achieved by combining PANI and carbon materials which have good stability and large surface area due to its pores [7]. Phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) was widely applied in solar cells due to great conductivity, high surface areas and excessive carrier mobility [8]. It is expected that PCBM plays an important role in energy storage application when mixing with conducting polymer. Poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT:PCBM) blends used in organic solar cells [9,10] and recently applied in supercapacitors application [11,12].
An expected high-performance hybrid supercapacitor can be obtained by the matrix of polyaniline as a donor with an electron acceptor of PCBM. This work aims to improve the electrochemical performance of PANI supercapacitor electrode by PCBM addition with different ratios through in situ polymerization. This will be achieved by the measurement of the cyclic voltammetry, the morphology properties, surface area, electrochemical impedance and capacitive behavior of nanocomposite electrodes. The insertion of PCBM not only increases the specific capacitance of PANI, but also improves the cyclic stability. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first successful demonstration of nanocomposite between PANI and PCBM for supercapacitor application. The specific capacitance, energy density and charge transfer resistance are determined and compared for the fabricated supercapacitors.
Section snippets
Materials
Aniline monomer and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP, 98%) were purchased from Loba Chemie, PCBM and ammonium peroxodisulfate (APS) were purchased from Ossila and Chem-Lab, respectively. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4, 95–97%), hydrochloric acid (HCl, 30–34%) and polyvinylidene difluoride powder (PVDF) were obtained from J.T.Baker, SDFCL and Alfa Aesar, respectively. Ethanol (99.8%) and dimethylformamide (DMF, 99%) were procured from Fisher chemical. All chemicals were used without further purification.
Preparation of PANI/PCBM nanocomposite
Absorption property
The optical absorption spectra of the doped and dedoped PANI, PCBM and PANI/PCBM nanocomposites samples are shown in Fig. 1. The spectrum of dedoped PANI (after treating with 1 M ammonium hydroxide) have two peaks. The peaks at 325 nm and 613 nm are attributed to π-π∗ transition of benzenoid ring and exciton formation in the quinonoid, respectively. PANI doped with H2SO4 shows a peak at 355 nm corresponds to π-π∗ transition of benzenoid ring and a peak at 440 nm attributed to the localized
Conclusions
PANI/PCBM nanocomposites with different ratios were successfully synthesized via chemical oxidation polymerization. The morphological results revealed the formation of aggregated and a spongy irregular shaped with porous structure. BET data confirmed the existence of meso/macroporos and few microporos in the composite and reduced ions diffusion resistance. The electrochemical measurements showed the highest specific capacitance of 2201 F/g for PANI/PCBM5 nanocomposite at current density of
References (51)
- et al.
Fabrication and characterization of polyaniline coated carbon nanofiber for supercapacitor
Carbon
(2005) - et al.
Synthesis of polyaniline/graphite composite as a cathode of Zn-polyaniline rechargeable battery
J Power Sources
(2007) - et al.
Mesoscopic investigation of the effect of MWCNT/rGO network on the performance of P3HT:PC60BM solar cells
Mater Chem Phys
(2019) - et al.
P3HT/PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells: relation between morphology and electro-optical characteristics
Sol Energy Mater Sol Cell
(2006) - et al.
One-pot electrochemical growth of sponge-like polyaniline-intercalated phosphorous-doped graphene oxide on nickel foam as binder-free electrode material of supercapacitor
Phys E Low-dimens Syst Nanostruct
(2018) - et al.
Preparation of NiMoO4-PANI core-shell nanocomposite for the high-performance all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor
Int J Hydrogen Energy
(2018) - et al.
Sprayed polyaniline layer onto chemically reduced graphene oxide as electrode for high performance supercapacitor
Synth Met
(2016) - et al.
Optical properties of polyaniline
Polymer
(1993) - et al.
Conducting polyaniline composite: a reusable sensor material for aqueous ammonia
Sensor Actuator B Chem
(2001) Spectroscopic studies of acceptor and donor doping of polyaniline in the emeraldine base and pernigraniline forms
Synth Met
(1990)
FTIR spectroscopic and conductivity study of the thermal degradation of polyaniline films
Polym Degrad Stabil
Energy density and IR spectra of polyaniline synthesized electrochemically in the solutions of strong acids
Synth Met
Solid-state synthesis and characterization of polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composite
Synth Met
Supercapacitor electrode based on three-dimensional graphene-polyaniline hybrid
Mater Chem Phys
Preparation of a graphene nanosheet/polyaniline composite with high specific capacitance
Carbon
Thermal degradation of polyaniline films prepared in solutions of strong and weak acids and in water – FTIR and Raman spectroscopic studies
Polym Degrad Stabil
Effect of doping of organic and inorganic acids on polyaniline/Mn3O4 composite for NTC and conductivity behaviour
Sensor Actuator Phys
Modification of glassy carbon electrode with polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composite: application to electro-reduction of bromate
J Electroanal Chem
Carboxylic acid functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube doped polyaniline for chloroform sensors
Sensor Actuator B Chem
The frequency-dependence conduction of polyaniline based on their para-crystalline structures
Synth Met
Hydrothermal-assisted synthesis of a porous polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide composite as a high-performance electrode material for supercapacitors
Compos B Eng
Hierarchical mushroom-like CoNi2S4 arrays as a novel electrode material for supercapacitors
Nanomater Energy
Doped polyaniline with C60
Solid State Commun
Preparation of graphene nanosheet/carbon nanotube/polyaniline composite as electrode material for supercapacitors
J Power Sources
Materials for electrochemical capacitors
Nat Mater
Cited by (59)
Fabrication of NiCo Layered Double Hydroxide on Carbon Fiber Paper as High Performance Binder-free Electrode for Supercapacitors
2023, Materials Research BulletinNickel and cobalt oxides supported on activated carbon derived from willow catkin for efficient supercapacitor electrode
2023, Journal of Energy Storage