Construction of an electrochemical stable conductive network to improve the pseudocapacitance of polyaniline

Abstract

An electrochemical stable conductive network is built to improve the pseudocapacitance of polyaniline. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, polyaniline/ITO composite is synthesized by in-situ oxidation polymerization of aniline in the dispersed system of ITO nanoparticles. The electrical conductivity of the optimal polyaniline/ITO composite is 14.42 S cm−1, while that of contrast polyaniline is 1.88 S cm−1. Polyaniline/ITO coated on the oxidized carbon cloth (polyaniline/ITO@oxidized carbon cloth) displays a specific capacitance of 1505.7 mF cm−2 at a current density of 0.5 mA cm−2, and the capacitance retention reaches 75% with a growth of the current density from 0.5 to 5 mA cm−2, while those of polyaniline@oxidized carbon cloth are 847.9 mF cm−2 and 68.3%. It is noteworthy that the capacitance retention of polyaniline/ITO@oxidized carbon cloth symmetrical capacitor is high up to 90.1% after 2000 cycles at a current density of 1 mA cm−2. Moreover, a high energy density of 31.18 μWh cm−2 is also attained at a power density of 0.35 mW cm−2.