The fabrication of polypyrrole/d-tartaric acid composite used as electrode in supercapacitors

Polypyrrole/d-tartaric acid composite is successfully fabricated by homogeneous coating of a polypyrrole (PPy) layer around d-tartaric acid (d-TA) nanospheres and the pyrrole (Py) quantity is adjusted. X-ray powder diffraction characterization demonstrates that the PPy is amorphous in PPy/d-TA composite, which is beneficial for ion transfer. The specific capacitance of the polypyrrole/d-tartaric acid electrode obtained with the ratio of [Py]/[d-TA] = 1:1 is 200 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1. Moreover, the polypyrrole/d-tartaric acid ([Py]/[d-TA] = 1:1) displays satisfactory electronic conductivity in EIS measurement. The electrochemical results indicate that the d-tartaric acid is a promising support for the fabrication of electrode in electrochemical energy-storage devices.