Polyaniline/acetylene black binary nanocomposites for high performance supercapacitor electrode

Abstract

Polyaniline/pre-treated acetylene black (PANI/AB) nanocomposites with varying proportions of constituent components were synthesized via in-situ polymerization method. The structural and conductive properties of the composites were systematically analysed to investigate the effect of PANI and AB ratios. Morphological studies using FESEM and FETEM confirmed structural changes influenced by the relative proportions of PANI and AB, with the PANI/AB 8:1 nanocomposite exhibiting an interconnected nanorod-like structure and the highest specific surface area. The synthesized products demonstrate an efficient hybrid energy storage mechanism that combines electric double-layer capacitance and pseudocapacitance, revealing that the PANI/AB nanocomposite with an 8:1 ratio demonstrated superior performance, achieving a specific capacitance of 388.6 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ , retaining 80 % of its initial capacitance even at a high current density of 10 A g⁻¹ in a three-electrode configuration. Furthermore, the two-electrode symmetric cell demonstrated an energy density of 24.2 W h kg⁻¹ at a power density of 700 W kg⁻¹ . Remarkably, the cell-maintained stability under a high-power density of 14 kW kg⁻¹ , achieving an energy density of 13.7 W h kg⁻¹ . These superior capacitive properties are attributed to the synergistic interactions between PANI and AB nanoparticles, making the composite a promising candidate for high-performance energy storage applications.