The effect of the polyaniline morphology on the performance of polyaniline supercapacitors

Abstract

The polyaniline (PANI) prepared by the pulse galvanostatic method (PGM) or the galvanostatic method on a stainless steel substrate from an aqueous solution of 0.5 mol/l H₂SO₄ with 0.2 mol/l aniline has been studied as an electroactive material in supercapacitors. The electrochemical performance of the PANI supercapacitor is characterized by cyclic voltammetry, a galvanostatic charge–discharge test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in NaClO₄ and HClO₄ mixed electrolyte. The results show that PANI films with different morphology and hence different capacitance are synthesized by controlling the synthesis methods and conditions. Owing to the double-layer capacitance and pseudocapacitance increase with increasing real surface area of PANI, the capacitive performances of PANI were enhanced with increasing real surface area of PANI. The highest capacitance is obtained for the PANI film with nanofibrous morphology. From charge–discharge studies of a nanofibrous PANI capacitor, a specific capacitance of 609 F/g and a specific energy density of 26.8 Wh/kg have been obtained at a discharge current density of 1.5 mA/cm². The PANI capacitor also shows little degradation of capacitance after 1,000 cycles. The effects of discharge current density and deposited charge of PANI on capacitance are investigated. The results indicate that the nanofibrous PANI prepared by the PGM is promising for supercapacitors.