The electrochemical performance of electrodeposited chitosan bio-nanopolymer in non-aqueous electrolyte: a new anodic material for supercapacitor

Abstract

The polymeric film electrodes of chitosan are deposited by electrochemical deposition method on the stainless steel substrates. The prepared film electrodes are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle techniques and evaluated for the supercapacitor application by studying electrochemical properties through cyclic voltammetry. The XRD study depicts nanocrystalline nature of deposited chitosan with 36 nm crystallite size. The uniform, compact and spongy chitosan thin film covers the utmost substrate surface and has hydrophilic nature with mean water contact angle 57.9°. The chitosan electrode exhibits 13 kW kg−1 power density from the galvanostatic charge discharge study. The chitosan electrode shows the maximum electrochemical capacitance of 36 F g−1 in non-aqueous KCl electrolyte, which presents a new anodic material for supercapacitor application.