Electrochemical Characterization of Polyaniline in Nonaqueous Electrolyte and Its Evaluation as Electrode Material for Electrochemical Supercapacitors

Abstract

In this study, the performance of a polyaniline (PANI) based supercapacitor where electroactive PANI films were prepared on carbon paper electrodes from a nonaqueous solution with an organic acid (CF 3 COOH) as the proton source was investigated. The use of nonaqueous media as electrolyte led to an increase of the electroactivity window from 0.75 V in aqueous media up to 1.0 V. Low frequency capacitance, evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, of about 150 F/g is reported. Scanning electron microscopy indicated a highly porous material for deposited charges greater than 1 C/cm 2 . Constant current charge/discharge cycling of a symmetric supercapacitor based on PANI in nonaqueous medium was performed in a two-electrode cell configuration and a loss of about 60% of the discharge capacity was demonstrated after 1000 cycles. Tetramethylammonium methanesulfonate (Me 4 NCF 3 SO 3 ) was also used instead of tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate (Et 4 NBF 4 ) as supporting electrolyte in acetonitrile for the charge/discharge testing of the PANI-PANI capacitor. Energy and power densities of approximately 3.5 Wh/kg and 1300 W/kg, respectively, were developed by this supercapacitor for a cell voltage of 1 V and a discharge time of 20 s. On the other hand, an asymmetrical supercapacitor with polypyrrole and polyaniline used as positive and negative electrodes, respectively, displayed slightly improved performance. Indeed, an energy density of 5 Wh/kg and a power density of 1200 W/kg were reported for discharge time of about 20 s with 1 M Me 4 NCF 3 SO 3 /acetonitrile as electrolyte.

Polyaniline/porous carbon electrodes by chemical polymerisation: Effect of carbon surface chemistry

“…Regarding the composites, it can be observed that those prepared by mechanical mixing with polyaniline (samples AM) and after aniline polymerisation over the thermally [14,21,24,26]. Moreover, as the amount of polyaniline increases (AM3 sample), a noticeable change in the voltammogram shape appears.…”

“…Moreover, as the amount of polyaniline increases (AM3 sample), a noticeable change in the voltammogram shape appears. This change in the voltammogram is more marked for pure polyaniline and it is attributed to limited ions diffusion-migration process in the bulk of the polymer and to the ohmic drop within the thick polymer layer [26]. The integration of the curves, taking into account the scan rate and the double layer contribution has allowed us to estimate the ratio charge-to-mass for chemically polymerised polyaniline.…”

“…Dealing with the capacitance values, polyaniline electrodes can reach capacitance values about of 700-800 F/g [16,18,19]. Moreover, the electrochemical behaviour of polyaniline electrochemically polymerised has been extensively studied [20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Electrodeposited Nano-flakes of Manganese Oxide on Macroporous Ni Electrode Exhibiting High Pseudocapacitance

“…9 presents the repeated cycles of charge-discharge in the time span of 2500 s. No shape and size changes were observed pointing to the reversibility as well as the stability of the system. The specific capacitances of the electrodes are evaluated 23,24) using:…”

Effects of Carboxylates on the Performance of Zn Electrode

“…Zinc is widely used as a negative electrode material of batteries (such as Zn-Mn and Zn-Ag batteries) owing to the advantages of low equilibrium potential, high specific energy density, being an abundant resource, having low cost, and being environmentally friendly [3]. Conducting polymer polyaniline (PANI) [4,5] has attracted researchers' interest as a cathode active material of rechargeable batteries in aqueous [6][7][8] and non-aqueous electrolytes [9][10][11][12] (such as Zn-PANI secondary battery [13][14][15][16][17] and Li-PANI secondary battery [18][19][20]). A significant portion of these studies has been devoted to PANI that exhibit excellent electrochemical activity and environmental stability.…”