Fabrication of binder-free mixed sulphide/PANI nanocomposite based electrode for supercapacitor application

Abstract

In a pursuit to satisfy the rising energy demand, researchers to create novel, environmentally safe electrode materials for several energy storage devices. The electrochemical performance could be compromised as a result of the polymer binders employed in the electrode coating procedure. Binder-free electrode materials accelerate electron transport pathways by providing enough room to accommodate the active material's large volume changes during charging and discharging. Lower electronegativity of sulphur compared to oxygen provides increased flexibility in the structure of transition metal sulphides which makes them stand out as the promising candidates in the search for innovative electrode materials. Likewise, although PANI possess high conductivity and specific capacitance, it's ineffective to be used in the purest form for practical applications owing to its inability to retain the capacitance when it undergoes multiple charging/discharging cycles. In this work, we describe the development of binder-free Cu-Mn mixed sulphide and its nanocomposite with PANI on carbon fibre paper (CP) substrates. Characterization techniques such as XPS, FE-SEM along with elemental mapping helped in understanding the successful formation of the nanocomposite. In contrast to pure PANI and Cu-Mn mixed sulphide at the same current density in a neutral 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, the composite of Cu-Mn mixed sulphide and PANI demonstrated an enhanced areal capacitance of 550.95 mF cm−2 at 1 mA cm−2. Incorporating PANI with Cu-Mn mixed sulphides has not only improved their capacitance but also reduced the rate at which pristine PANI's capacitance degrades when subjected to a greater number of charge/discharge cycles which is reflected in the enhanced capacity retention property of the nanocomposite, wherein the composite maintained 99.02% of its original capacitance at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 than of pure PANI on CP substrates.