Novel PANI/MnFe2O4 nanocomposite for low-cost supercapacitors with high rate capability

This work presents a novel magnetic polyaniline decorated with manganese ferrite (PANI/MnFe2O4) as a stable supercapacitor electrode material. The surface morphology of as-synthesized nanocomposite and pristine materials are investigated with field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The size of nanoparticles is estimated to be 50-60 nm and the length of PANI nanofibers is around 200-500 nm. The content of PANI in the composite of PANI/MnFe2O4 nanocomposite is determined 51% by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) in air atmosphere. The magnetic properties of PANI/MnFe2O4 nanocomposite and pristine MnFe2O4 nanoparticles are compared on a vibrant sample magnetometer (VSM) with maximum saturation magnetization values of 14.6 emu g(-1) and 61 emu g(-1) respectively. The PANI/MnFe2O4 nanocomposite, as a low-cost new supercapacitor electrode material, shows high specific capacitance of 371 F g(-1) (at 1 A g(-1)) in 1 M H2SO4 and excellent stable cycle life (13.3% of specific capacitance decreases after 2000 cycles) with high rate capability.