Fabrication of a new rGO@PPy/SS composite electrode with high energy storage and long cycling life for potential applications in supercapacitors

Abstract

Electrochemical synthesized PPy/SS and rGO@PPy/SS electrodes are individually characterized from the point of their morphological and structural properties by the SEM, EDX and FTIR techniques. Electrochemical measurements, for instance, CV, EIS, and MS are performed to obtain the supercapacitive behaviour of the electrodes in an aqueous solution of 0.1 M KOH. All the morphological and structural studies confirm the molecular occurrence of PPy and rGO@PPy, and the homogenous distribution of the material onto the SS substrate. The specific capacitances of the electrodes show up as 104.22 F g−1 and 122.53 F g−1 respectively for PPy/SS and rGO@PPy/SS at 10 mV s−1 scan rate. The energy density of rGO@PPy/SS is 212.5 Wh kg−1 at the current density of 6 A g−1 while the energy density of PPy/SS is 116.66 Wh kg−1 at the same scan rate. This considerable increase is also shown for the power densities of the electrodes as from 4516.12 W kg−1 to 6219.51 W kg−1 at 6 A g−1 by insertion of rGO into PPy/SS. Likewise, with this insertion, an impressive improvement in the cyclic stability of the electrode is seen from 59.5% to 97.6%. In the light of these results, rGO@PPy/SS is considered an extremely promising material for supercapacitor investigations.