Synthesis and performance study of carbon derivatives/polyaniline nanocomposite as an efficient supercapacitor material

Polyaniline is a conducting polymer that has been widely studied for electronic and optical applications [1]. In this research, carbon derivatives incorporated into polyaniline nanofibers (CD–PANi) through a simple procedure and their electrochemical properties were investigated. The procedure consists of quite facile steps, which is faster and more scalable than the previous studies. Morphological and chemical characteristics of nanocomposites revealed successful grafting of PANI nanofibers to the CD. Electrochemical properties of the samples were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance. Morphological characteristics of CD-PANi nanocomposite was examined via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and FTIR. The nanocomposite with the high ratio of PANI (CD–PANi) exhibited specific capacitance of 576 F/g at a discharge current density of 1 A/g and good rate capability. CD-PANi nanocomposite exhibited best cycling performance by maintaining 84% of its initial capacitance after 1500 cycles.