A novel layered manganese oxide/poly(aniline-co-o-anisidine) nanocomposite and its application for electrochemical supercapacitor

A novel layered manganese oxide/poly(aniline-co-o-anisidine) nanocomposite [MnO2/P(An-co-oAs)] was successfully synthesized by a delamination/reassembling process using P(An-co-oAs) ionomer and layered manganese oxide in aqueous solution. This nanocomposite obtained was then characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. X-ray diffraction and electron microscope analysis showed that the MnO2/P(An-co-oAs) nanocomposite had a lamellar structure with increasing interlayer spacing. The MnO2/P(An-co-oAs) nanocomposite exhibited substantially improved conductivity, which was near 100 times greater than that of its pristine MnO2 (3.5 × 10−7 S cm−1). The specific capacitance of the MnO2/P(An-co-oAs) nanocomposite reached 262 F g−1 in 1 M Na2SO4 at a current density of 1 A g−1, which was significantly higher than that of either of its two pristine materials [MnO2 (182 F g−1) or P(An-co-oAs) (127 F g−1)] owing to the synergic effect between the two pristine components. The fabrication mechanism of the nanocomposite was also proposed and discussed in this paper.