Preparation of polyaniline nanowire arrayed electrodes for electrochemical supercapacitors

Polyaniline (PANI) nanowire arrayed electrodes were successfully synthesized by means of anodic deposition technique using the membrane-template synthesis route. The desired three-dimensional architecture of PANI nanowire arrayed electrodes was characterized with field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. It was found that the co-deposition nanowires were regular size and continuous with an average diameter of about 30 nm, and the nanowires have an amorphous nature. The electrochemical characterization was performed in 2 M H2SO4 aqueous solution. The capacitance of the PANI nanowire arrayed electrode at a charge–discharge current density of 5 Ag−1 is 1142 Fg−1. The nanowire arrayed electrodes showed an excellent capacitive ability for the facility of electrolyte penetration, the ease of proton exchange/diffusion and the metallic conductivity of PANI nanowire arrayed electrodes.