Fabrication and Characterization of Polyaniline-Graphene Nanoplatelets Composite Electrode Materials for Hybrid Supercapacitor Applications

摘要

Supercapacitor device electrochemical performance characteristics of different nanocomposite materials containing polyaniline (PAni) and graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) have been evaluated with two-electrode electrochemical setup. The PAni-based nanocomposite electrodes have been fabricated via ultrasonicated in-situ chemical polymerization and solvent casting process. The specific capacitance of the supercapacitor electrode have reached as high as 357.07 F/g at 10mV/s, in the case of 15:1 PAni/GnPs, as a result of graphene nanoparticles' large surface area providing an ideal template for polymerization to occur. Electrodes under study are namely, pristine GnPs, pristine PAni, and 5:1, 15:1 PAni/GnPs nanocomposites. Material composition has been confirmed via thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), while scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used to characterize the morphologies of the nanostructures. Three-dimensional nanocomposite morphology has been observed in the micrographs of these nanocomposites, indicating a relationship between the material surface area and the charge storage ability.