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Preparation and Characterization of PANI/MWCNT/RGO Ternary Composites as Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors

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Abstract

Electrode materials for supercapacitors are extensively studied at present; however, their structural and electrochemcial properties still require further improvement. Hence, a series of polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide binary composites (PANI/RGO, PG-i, i = 1–5) and polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/reduced graphene oxide ternary composites (PANI/MWCNT/RGO, PCG-i, i = 1–6) were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The morphology, structure and electrochemical performance of these samples are systematically analyzed and discussed. Analysis shows that all the samples have abundant pore structure. By changing the ratio of components, PCG-5 shows superior comprehensive electrochemical performance, including a high specific capacitance of 478 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, a considerable capacitance retention (63.56%, from 1 A g−1 to 20 A g−1, and 55.33%, from 1 A g−1 to 50 A g−1) and an extraordinary cycling stability (64% after 3500 cycles, at 2 A g−1) in 1 M H2SO4. The results prove that the PANI/MWCNT/RGO ternary composites have great potential as supercapacitor electrodes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Key Research and Development Project of Sichuan Province, China (Grant No. 2017GZ0396), Guizhou Science and Technology Program (Grant No. [2020]2Y063-2020QT) and the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities. The authors acknowledge the help of Hui Wang from the Analytical and Testing Center of Sichuan University for SEM analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, People’s Republic of China

    Huimin Dai, Rong Li, Siyu Su, Yifan Cui, Yueming Lin, Liang Zhang & Xiaohong Zhu

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  1. Huimin Dai
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  2. Rong Li
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  3. Siyu Su
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  4. Yifan Cui
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Contributions

Huimin Dai: Methodology, Data curation, Writing-original draft. Rong Li: Investigation, Methodology, Data curation, Validation. Siyu Su: Data curation, Supervision. Yifan Cui: Investigation, Supervision. Yueming Lin: Investigation. Liang Zhang: Investigation. Xiaohong Zhu: Methodology, Supervision, Writing-review & editing, Resources, Funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Xiaohong Zhu.

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Supplementary Information

SEM images of PG-i (i = 1, 2, 3) (a–c), PG-5 (d), PCG-i (i = 1, 2, 3, 4) (e–h) and PCG-6 (i) (Fig. S1); SEM images of RGO (a), PANI (b) and MWCNT (c) (Fig. S2); XRD patterns of RGO, PANI, MWCNT, MCG, PG-4 and PCG-5 (Fig. S3); the high-resolution C 1s spectra, the high-resolution N 1s spectra, the high-resolution O 1s spectra and the high-resolution S 2p spectra of MCG (Fig. S4); N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms (a–c), pore size distribution calculated by the DFT method (d) of RGO, PG-4 and PCG-5 (Fig. S5); MIP data analysis of RGO, PG-i (i = 1–5), MCG and PCG-i (i = 1–6) (Table SI); the fitted Rs and Rct of PG-i (i =1–5), MCG and PCG-i (i =1–6) (Table SII).

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Dai, H., Li, R., Su, S. et al. Preparation and Characterization of PANI/MWCNT/RGO Ternary Composites as Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors. J. Electron. Mater. 51, 1409–1420 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-021-09421-6

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