Facile synthesis of coral-like hierarchical polyaniline micro/nanostructures with enhanced supercapacitance and adsorption performance

We presented a newly facile approach to scalable synthesize three-dimensional (3D) coral-like polyaniline (CL-PANI) hierarchical micro/nanostructures. The CL-PANI composed of well-defined nanowires with ca.20 nm was self-assembled by in situ conventional chemical polymerization with a different charging sequence. Electron microscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption studies showed that CL-PANI possessed unique mesoporous structure and highly crystallinity which could promote rapid ion diffusion and charge transfer. Electrochemical experimental results showed that the as-prepared CL-PANI electrode had a superior electrochemical capacitance performance with a relatively high specific capacitance of 817 F g(-1) at a current density of 0.5 A g(-1) and a great rate capability of 67% specific capacitance retaining from 0.5 to 20 A g(-1). Meanwhile, CL-PANI exhibited an enhanced adsorption performance of azo dye Acid Red G (ARG) from aqueous solution with a Langmuir maximum adsorption of 310.2 mg g(-1) at pH 2.0, 298 K. This study offers a simple and cost effective path for scalable synthesis of PANI materials for supercapacitor and adsorption application.