Facile synthesis of polyaniline nanofibers/porous carbon microspheres composite for high performance supercapacitors

Conductive polyaniline (PANI)/porous carbon microspheres (PCMs) composite (PANI/PCMs) was synthesized by simple solution polymerization method with PCMs as carbon support. The morphology and structure were analyzed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical performances were analyzed by Cyclic Voltammetry and constant-current Charge and Discharge. The results show that the carbon support (PCMs) plays a vital role in regulating the morphology and structure of PANI. In PANI/PCMs composite, small and uniform PANI nanofibers were grown on the surface of PCMs, but only micronfibers were formed for the pristine PANI. The PANI/PCMs composite shows excellent capacitance performances in 1M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte. At a current density of 1 A/g, the PANI/PCMs composite represents a maximum specific capacitance of 242.5 F/g, which is much higher than those of pristine PANI (135.2 F/g) and PCMs (37.2 F/g). (C) 2017 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.