Development, Investigation, and Comparative Study of the Effects of Various Metal Oxides on Optical Electrochemical Properties Using a Doped PANI Matrix

A comparative study was performed in order to analyze the effect of metal oxide (MO) on the properties of a polymeric matrix. In this study, polyaniline (PANI)@Al2O3, PANI@TiC, and PANI@TiO2 nanocomposites were synthesized using in situ polymerization with ammonium persulfate as an oxidant. The prepared materials were characterized by various analytical methods such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV/visible (UV/Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, the conductive properties of the materials were tested using the four-point probe method. The presence of MO in the final product was confirmed by XPS, XRD, FTIR, and TEM, while spectroscopic characterization revealed interactions between the MOs and PANI. The results showed that the thermal stability was improved when the MO was incorporated into the polymeric matrix. Moreover, the results revealed that incorporating TiO2 into the PANI matrix improves the optical bandgap of the nanocomposite and decreases electrical conductivity compared to other conducting materials. Furthermore, the electrochemical properties of the hybrid nanocomposites were tested by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD). The obtained results suggest that the PANI@TiO2 nanocomposite could be a promising electrode material candidate for high-performance supercapacitor applications.