Supercapacitor Performance of Aligned Carbon Nanotube/Polyaniline Composite Depending on the Duration of Aniline Polycondensation

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI) was electrochemically deposited onto aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays during 500 and 2500 sec. The electronic state of nitrogen in the composites was investigated by near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. The N K-edge spectra revealed that mainly emeraldine base was developed in the former composite, while emeraldine was highly protonated in the latter composite. Electrochemical measurements showed that the CNT/PANI composites have significantly better performance than the non-coated nanotubes. The higher specific capacity in the composite obtained during the shorter time was related with the thinner PANI layer deposited on the CNT surface.

Keywords:

• Aligned nanotubes
• polyaniline
• supercapacitor

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. N. A. Rudina for the SEM image. The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 10-03-91163-а) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation (contract 16.513.11.3071).