Electrospinning of PANI for use as a supercapacitor electrode

In this work, a supercapacitor electrode based on electro-spun Polyaniline (PANI) is developed. PANI is conducting polymer with pseudo-capacitive characteristic. It can show high specific capacitance if it can be used in a nanometric form to increase its active surface area. One method of increasing the active surface area of polymer materials is electro-spinning. However, electrospinning of PANI is challenging due to its rigid structure. Here, we mix PANI with suitable amount of PVDF to assist the electro-spinning process. Since PVDF is non-conducting material, carbon black is added to the solution to increase its electrical conductivity. The Ratio of PANI/PVDF/carbon black is ۸۰/۱۰/۱۰. The mixed materials are stirred for ۲۴ h and electro-spun on a steel foil. The fabricated electrode shows the specific capacitance of ۴۷ F/g at the scan rate of ۲ mV/s.

Keywords:

supercapacitor , electrospinning , PANI , PVDF.