Electrodeposition of pyrrole and 3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)thiophene copolymer for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

The electropolymerization of pyrrole (Py), 3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)thiophene (TPT) monomer or the mixed Py and TPT monomers on stainless steel mesh substrate were performed in 1 M LiClO4/acetonitrile solution. A much lower potential of 0.75 V was required for the co-electropolymerization of Py and TPT, in sharp contrast to that of 1.20 V for poly(3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)thiophene) (PTPT) formation. The resultant homopolymers and copolymer were characterized with FESEM and FTIR, and assembled into supercapacitors to investigate their electrochemical performances. The copolymer electrode delivered the highest specific capacitance of 291 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1, in comparison with that of 216 and 26 F g−1 for PPy and PTPT, respectively. This copolymer also exhibited a greatly improved cycling stability -only 9% of capacitance decrease was observed after 1000 charging-discharging cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1, while the capacitance losses for PPy and PTPT were 16% and 60%, respectively. ABSTRACTThe electropolymerization of pyrrole (Py), 3-(4-tertbutylphenyl)thiophene

Vibrational spectroscopic, NMR parameters and electronic properties of three 3-phenylthiophene derivatives via density functional theory

“…Recent literature contains numerous reports on the synthesis and properties of molecular systems having thiophene unit (Zhang et al 2009 ; Ustamehmetoglu 2014 ; Dai et al 2007 ; Cho et al 2012 ; Patil et al 2011 ; Balaji et al 2011 ). The electronic properties exhibited by the thiophene and polythiophene derivatives have made them important in organic field effect transistors (OFET) (Yang et al 2005 ; Mushrush et al 2003 ; Osaka et al 2007 ), organic light emitting diodes (OLED) (Cicoira et al 2006 ; Lim et al 2013 ), solar cells (Hara et al 2003 ; Cao et al 2009 ; Thomas et al 2008 ) and supercapacitors (Sivaraman et al 2013 ; Yue et al 2012 ; Karthikeyan et al 2012 ). The electronic properties of thiophene-based materials can be tuned over a wide range through chemical or architecture modification.…”

Alkyl functionalized bithiophene end-capped with 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene units: synthesis, electropolymerization and the capacitive properties of their polymers

“…As the scan rate increases, the specific capacitance decreases for the electrodes. The loss of capacitance at high scan rates could be attributed to the delayed charge transfer following change of the electric field caused by the penetration and diffusion of electrolyte barrier into a relatively poor electronically or ionically conductive material [58].…”

Tremella-like NiO microspheres embedded with fish-scale-like polypyrrole for high-performance asymmetric supercapacitor

“…17 As a supercapacitor electrode material, PPy can exhibit a capacitance of 200-500 F g À1 . 18,19 Pure PPy has many advantages, such as large surface area, high capacitance, and chemical stability. However, PPy is rigid and difficult to dissolve in common organic solvents (i.e., ethanol and acetone), has poor mechanical ductility, and is difficult to process into desired products.…”