Vanadium Oxide Nanoflower – Carbon Nanofiber Composite Electrodes Derived from Poly(acrylonitrile-co-itaconic acid)

Abstract

Composite electrodes composed of vanadium pentoxide nanoflowers (VNFs) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were prepared by co-electrospinning method. Co-polymer poly(acrylonitrile-co-itaconic acid) was used to provide the carbon backbone. Presence of the itaconic acid allows for in situ activation. Morphological analysis shows that upon carbonization the resulting composite fibers have a fiber diameter of 60nm ±15nm at a 15wt% V2O5 concentration in the electrospinning solution. This composite was applied towards a two-electrode asymmetric supercapacitor device. Presence of redox active vanadium oxide composited with high surface area CNFs can help to enhance the electrochemical performance of the device. Different loadings of V2O5 were tested in order to observe how increasing loading effects the performance of the device. Results have shown specific capacitance of 150 Fg-1 at a 15wt% V2O5 loading using ionic liquid electrolyte. Ionic liquid electrolyte allows for the voltage window to be expanded, which can help to enhance the energy density. These composite electrodes have shown results comparable to ones reported using aqueous electrolytes. Figure 1