Comparison of Optical Characteristics of GO-PANI Composite in Solution and Thin Film

Abstract

Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) is a promising material as an active electrodes material for supercapacitors. However, in its application, rGO can only store electrostatic charges so there is no electron transfer between surface of the electrode and electrolyte. In order to improve electrode performance, rGO can be composite with conductive polymers such Polyaniline (PANi). It was reported that rGO-PANi composite can increase conductivity of rGO and support pseudocapacitance of the material so the electron transfer can be carried out actively through reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions. In this work we study preparation of rGO-PANI composite using UV oven spraying method. Thin layers of rGO-PANi composite were prepared from mixture of 0.5 mg/ml GO dispersion (Graphenia) and PANi-HCl solution with a ratio of 1:1. PANi-HCl solution were prepared from PANi Emeraldine Base and 1 M HCl with mole ratio of 1:2. The samples were spray coated onto quartz substrates under photo-irradiation using UV Oven Spraying apparatus. In order to obtain a proper thickness for electrode application we varied deposition repetition. The optical characteristics of the rGO-PANi composites were measured using UV-Vis Spectroscopy. The results were compared with the optical spectra of rGO and PANi, respectively. Acknowledgement This work was funded by Hibah Kemenristek Dikti Indonesia, contract no: 1827/UN6.3.1/LT/2020 date 12 May 2020.