Development of the PANI-CuO and PANI-CuO-GO Nanocomposite Architecture and Comparative Investigation of the Physicochemical, Optical and Electrochemical Properties Towards Supercapacitor Applications

Polyaniline (PANI) has garnered great attention within the scientific community due to its remarkable properties and extensive applications. Especially, the development of supercapacitor electrodes employing PANI, along with its composites incorporating nanomaterials or carbonaceous materials, has emerged as a prominent area of research. Herein, we report a feasible and environmentally friendly chemical oxidation polymerization approach was exploited to synthesized the pure PANI, PANI-CuO (binary) and PANI-CuO-GO (ternary) nanocomposites. The physicochemical attributes of synthesized materials were explored via x-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) characterization techniques. The supercapacitor performance of developed electrodes was evaluated through electrochemical characterizations such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The electrochemical results demonstrated the specific capacitance values as 166.09, 278.25, and 595.41 F g- 1 for PANI, PANI-CuO, and PANI-CuO-GO, respectively, at a current density of 1 A g- 1. The durability study of the developed electrodes reveals the best performance, but as compared to PANI and PANI-CuO nanocomposite PANI-CuO-GO nanocomposite indicated a higher specific capacitance value retained up to 95.8% over 3000 cycles. Consequently, the electrochemical performance of PANI-CuO-GO nanocomposites underscores their potential for excellence in supercapacitor applications compared to the PANI and PANI-CuO nanocomposites.