Preparation and electrochemical properties of poly‐2,5‐dihydroxyaniline/activated carbon composite electrode in organic electrolyte

Abstract Poly‐2,5‐dimethoxyaniline coating has been fabricated on active carbon (AC) substrates by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in organic system. The resulted coating is hydrolyzed to produce poly‐2,5‐dihydroxyaniline (PDHA) to enhance the capacitance of the composite electrode. Scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectra, CV, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge/discharge test are used to investigate the properties of these electrodes. In organic electrolyte, due to the introduced hydroquinone units, high value of capacitance up to 975 F g−1 of the PDHA/AC has been obtained at a current density of 0.37 A g−1 at a potential window of 0–1.5 V. An asymmetric capacitor has been assembled with the PDHA/AC positive and pure AC negative electrodes, which is able to obtain a specific energy as high as 178 Whkg−1 in the potential range of 0–2.0 V at a current density of 0.93 A g−1. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013