High performance of covalently grafted poly(o-methoxyaniline) nanocomposite in the presence of amine-functionalized graphene oxide sheets (POMA/f-GO) for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

In this study, we have synthesized covalently-grafted poly(o-methoxyaniline) nanocomposites in the presence of amine-functionalization of graphene oxide sheets (POMA/f-GO) via an in situ oxidative polymerization poly(o-methoxyaniline) initiated by those amino groups on graphene. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted to characterize the POMA/f-GO film. The electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge. The POMA/f-GO nanocomposite showed the highest electrochemical capacitance with a value of 422 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 current density and good cycle stability with 4.8% loss of capacitance over 1000 cycles. In comparison with polyaniline/f-GO and poly(o-chloroaniline)/f-GO, the POMA/f-GO nanocomposite demonstrated good cyclic stability. The synthesized nanocomposites showed a unique hierarchical morphology of the POMA array like nanostructures grown on the f-GO sheets, which increased the accessible surface area for the redox reaction and allowed faster ion diffusion for excellent electrochemical performance. This research highlights the importance of introducing amino functional groups of graphene oxide and substitution of aniline which improve the electrochemical properties to achieve highly stable cycling and high capacitance values.