One-step triple-phase interfacial synthesis of polyaniline-coated polypyrrole composite and its application as electrode materials for supercapacitors

•Triple-phase interface synthesis of nanostructured composites was firstly proposed.•One-step route for the preparation of core–shell PPy/PANI composite was achieved.•As prepared PPy/PANI composite showed superior capacitance behaviors.

We first present an alternative one-step route for constructing a novel polyaniline (PANI)-coated polypyrrole (PPy) composite in an ingenious triple-phase interface system, where PPy and PANI are prepared in individual non-interference interfaces and, in the middle aqueous phase, smaller PANI particles are uniformly coated on the surface of PPy particles, forming a core–shell structure. The prepared PPy/PANI composite electrode shows a superior capacitance behavior that is more suitable for supercapacitor application.

Graphical abstractShown above were schematic illustration of interfacial synthesis of PPy/PANI composite and SEM images of PPy (a), PANI (b) and PPy/PANI composite (c).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide