Carbon- and polyaniline nanofibers containing composite electrode material for supercapacitors

Abstract

Rapid mixing chemical oxidative polymerization method is used to synthesize carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and polyaniline nanofibers (PANI NF) containing composite. Morphological, structural and phase analyses reveal that the composite is constituted by PANI coated CNFs and PANI NF. The intrinsic defects on the CNFs' surfaces allowed the nucleation and growth of PANI on them. At the same time, the use of optimal aniline concentration facilitated the simultaneous nucleation and growth of PANI NF. The composite exhibits an excellent electrochemical activity with a specific capacitance of ∼ 156.92 F/g. The synergic contribution of the constituents to the overall electrochemical activity of the composite are identified.