Facial Synthesis of Silver-incorporated Conductive Polypyrrole Submicron Spheres for Supercapacitors

Abstract

Spherical silver-incorporated conductive polypyrrole (PPy) composite is successfully prepared via oxidative polymerization of pyrrole in an aqueous Ag+-containing solution in the presence of trisodium citrate. Citrate produces stable and charged micelles, thus tailoring the facial polymerization of the pyrrole. Monodispersed submicron spheres of silver/PPy composite are obtained by maintaining the molar ratio of citrate anion to silver cation at 3:1. Highly dispersed metallic Ag is uniformly incorporated in the PPy matrix, thus increasing the charge transfer ability of PPy materials. The as-prepared Ag/PPy material exhibits ideal capacitive behavior and has excellent cyclic stability. Charge-discharge measurements demonstrate a maximum specific capacitance of 315.8Fg−1 for the Ag/PPy electrode, which is much higher than that of a pure PPy electrode (153.2Fg−1). A high specific energy density of 43.9 Wh kg−1 can be achieved at 50W Kg−1 for PPy in the Ag/PPy electrode, and 30 Wh kg−1 remains at 500W Kg−1. The facially synthesized Ag/PPy composite possesses promising properties for use as an electrode material for supercapacitors.