Synthesis and electrochemical testing of novel doped polyaniline and biomass-derived carbon-based composite for supercapacitors

This work reports the synthesis and testing of doped polyaniline (PANI) and Pisum sativum derived activated carbon (PSAC) based composite as efficient electrode material for supercapacitors. The structure, morphology, elemental analysis, and surface area of the materials were studied using x-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-rays, Raman spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. The electrochemical performance of the material was investigated by deposition of it on two different substrates named stainless steel (SS) and stainless-steel mesh (SS mesh). The PSAC/PANI composite exhibited a specific capacitance of 446 and 517 F g-1 on SS and SS mesh respectively, at the scan rate of 5 mV s-1. The composite material showed higher cyclic stability on SS mesh with 91% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 2 A g-1. It delivered a specific energy of 89 and 101 W h kg-1 on SS and SS mesh at a specific power of 5000 W kg-1, respectively.