Fabrication of ferric chloride doped polyaniline/multilayer super-short carbon nanotube nanocomposites for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

Multilayer super-short carbon nanotubes (SSCNTs) could be synthesized by tailoring the raw multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with a simple ultrasonic oxidation-cut method. The present study represents a facile method for the preparation of FeCl3-doped PANI/SSCNTs (PANI/SSCNTs/Fe3+) composites as a supercapacitor electrode material with noteworthy performance. The materials were fabricated through in situ polymerization of ferric chloride-doped aniline in the presence of SSCNTs in HCl medium, and were characterized by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy and an XRD study. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed the successful coating of Fe3+-doped PANI on the SSCNTs surface. The electrochemical characterizations were carried out by a three-electrode probe method, with 3 M NaOH as the electrolyte. Galvanostatic charge-discharge test established the superiority of the PANI/SSCNTs/Fe3+ nanocomposite as a supercapacitor electrode material with maximum specific capacitance of 727 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, and 92 % of initial specific capacitance retention over 1000 number of charge discharge cycle. Moreover, the as-prepared nanocomposites showed higher electrical conductivity of 6.5 S cm−1 at room temperature.