Rapid microwaving route for pseudocapacitive nanostructured polypyrroles

Abstract

In present work, we report a direct one-pot microwave-assisted route for the much effusively explored conducting system: polypyrrole (PPy) bearing nanotubular morphology. The ratio of ‘fibrillar complex’ methyl orange/FeCl3 (soft-template) is marked as decisive synthesis parameter in shaping the material properties and potential applications of PPy(s) in supercapacitor technology. The nanosized PPys (diameter 10–50 nm) display good specific capacitance (118–215 F g−1) at 5 mV s−1 within a potential window −0.3 to 0.6 V as determined in 1 M KCl electrolyte. The optimized polymeric supercapacitor cell exhibits capacitance of 122 F g−1 at current density 0.5 A g−1 and energy density 12.47 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 214.56 W kg −1. The symmetrical cell retains 83.33% capacitance at a scan rate of 100 mV s−1 after running 3000 cycles suggestive of high durability. The research work bestows promising pseudocapacitive material for energy storage and opens up new frontiers in the field of ‘polymer chemistry’ via green chemistry routes.