Facile preparation of polyaniline/graphene oxide composite towards electrode materials

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANi) reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) composites were synthesized via in-situ polymerization. The GO was synthesized from natural graphite flakes via the modified Hummer's method. The PANi/GO composites were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The composites were used as supercapacitor electrodes and the performances were measured by the specific gravimetric capacitance ( Csp) from cyclic voltammetry and charge/discharge characteristics. The maximum value of [Formula: see text] was recorded as 36 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g for a loading of 50 wt.% of GO. However, the maximum energy density and power density were recorded as of 2.28 Wh kg−1 and 259.06 W kg−1, respectively, for the loading of 10 wt.% of GO. Additionally, the PANi/GO exhibited the highest capacitance retention of about 76.96% after 5000 cycles at a current density of 1 A/g. The electrochemical performance of the PANi/GO composites was suitable to be used for energy storage devices application.