Synthesis of polyaniline-coated ordered mesoporous carbon and its enhanced electrochemical properties

Pore surface of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was coated with a thin layer of polyaniline by chemical polymerization of aniline monomers. Structure characterizations, such as N2 adsorption analysis, small angle X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, demonstrate that polyaniline is well distributed on the pore surface of OMC. As evidenced by constant current charge–discharge test, specific capacitance of polyaniline-coated ordered mesoporous carbon (PCOMC) reaches as high as 602.5 F/g, which is much higher than that of OMC, due to the incorporation of polyaniline onto the pore surface of OMC. However, the capacitive behavior deteriorated somewhat due to the narrowed pore size and extra faradiac reactions caused by the incorporation of polyaniline.