Ion irradiation induced electrochemical stability enhancement of conducting polymer electrodes in supercapacitors

Abstract

We have explored the effects of 120 MeV Si9+ ion beam irradiation on the electrical, structural and capacitance properties of HClO4 doped polyaniline conducting polymer electrodes. The swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiated conducting polymer films exhibited upto 70% increase in crystallinity and dc conductivity with improved surface morphology. The supercapacitors fabricated with ion irradiated polyaniline electrodes showed enhancement of electrochemical stability and slight decrease in internal resistance, which could be attributed to the removal or stabilization of the volatile surface groups and decrease in surface roughness upon ion irradiation. Fluence dependent small increase in coulombic efficiency is observed in the supercapacitors with SHI irradiated polymer electrodes because of the increase in dc conductivity of the polymer electrodes upon irradiation.