Electrospun based polythioaniline/polyvinylalcohol/graphene oxide composite nanofibers for supercapacitor application

Abstract

In recent times high performance energy storage devices have drawn a considerable attention especially as supercapacitors, and extensive research were triggered to develop an electrochemically active material for countering the demand of supercapacitors. In the present work, polythioaniline/polyvinylalcohol/graphene oxide composite nanofibers were constructed as an efficient electrode to improve the cyclic stability and capacitance for energy storage applications. The composite nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning technique and studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and High Resolution Transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements. The electrochemical properties were determined using cyclic voltammetry technique (CV), electrochemical impedance analysis (EIS) and galvanostatic charging/discharging rates (GCD). The electrospun PTA/PVA/GO composite nanofibers (NFs) exhibited specific capacitance of 166 F/g at 0.6 A/g with the capacitive retention of 90% after 5000 cycles in 3M KOH electrolyte. The proposed design of these conductive composite nanofibers material would act as a potential electro-active material for supercapacitor application.