Symmetric supercapacitor performances of CaCu3Ti4O12 decorated polyaniline nanocomposite

Abstract

To explore the possibility of developing an electrode material with better supercapacitor performances, a composite of polyaniline (PANI) and varying amount of CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) was synthesized using a simple technique involving in-situ polymerization of aniline using ammonium persulphate as oxidant. The pristine PANI and the composite were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The electrochemical activities of the PANI/CCTO nanocomposites were examined in 1M H2SO4 in a three electrode assembly. It turned out that the specific capacity of the PANI can be largely tuned by making composite with the inorganic filler, CCTO. The composite consisting of just 5 wt % CCTO in PANI (PC5) exhibited the highest electrochemical activity with excellent stability compared to other compositions as well as the pristine PANI. A symmetric supercapacitor device consisting of the PC5 composite as both positive and negative electrodes that were fabricated have exhibited energy density of 30 W h kg�1 with an excellent power density of 20 kW kg�1 . Glowing of an LED using the proto-type solid-state symmetric device was demonstrate