Enhanced electrochemical performance of poly(N-acetylaniline)/graphene composites as electrode materials for supercapacitors

Poly(N-acetylaniline) (PAANI) nanowires have been successfully electrodeposited on the surface of graphene. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results demonstrate that PAANI nanowires with 70 nm in diameter are uniformly dispersed on graphene sheets, which greatly increases the surface area and charge transfer reaction. The obtained PAANI/graphene composites exhibit good electrochemical properties, presenting enhanced capacitive behavior with maximum specific capacitance of 1126 F/g at a scan rate of 10 mV/s in 1 M H2SO4 aqueous solution, higher than that of PAANI nanowire (365 F/g) and graphene (301 F/g) supercapacitors. Moreover, the supercapacitor shows excellent charge/discharge rates and good cycling stability, retaining over 94% of its initial capacitance after 1000 charge/discharge cycles at a discharge current density of 1 A/g.