Novel chemical synthesis of polypyrrole thin film electrodes for supercapacitor application

•Novel and cost effective chemical synthesis of polypyrrole thin films.•High specific capacitance and excellent stability of PPy thin films.•Brilliant power capability of PPy nanograins.•Low electrochemical series resistance of PPy thin films.

Present investigation describes the cost-effective, novel and simple chemical synthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) thin films for supercapacitor application. These PPy films are characterized by different techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD pattern reveals the amorphous nature of PPy thin film, which is highly feasible for supercapacitors. Further, FTIR study confirms the formation of PPy. The surface morphological study exhibit the coverage of uniform and smooth morphology on thin film. The electrochemical supercapacitive properties of PPy thin films are evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte, which exhibits the maximum specific capacitance of 329 Fg−1 at the scan rate of 5 mV s−1. Additionally, an equivalent series resistance (ESR) of PPy thin films is found to be 1.08 Ω using electrochemical impedance measurement.

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