Enhancing the performance of polypyrrole composites as electrode materials for supercapacitors by carbon nanotubes additives

ABSTRACT In the framework of this study, a facile method to obtain polypyrrole (PPy)/carbon nanotubes composites is presented. Chemical polymerization of PPy directly on the carbon nanotubes allows to obtain a homogenous distribution of the polymer. A low amount of carbon additive, varying from 1.5 to 5.5 wt %, is applied in order to prevent the decrease of capacitance value due to the presence of a low‐capacitance component and, at the same time, to protect the electrode material from mechanical changes during cycling electrical measurements. The electrochemical properties, such as capacitance, its retention at different current loads, cycling stability, or self‐discharge, are discussed. Improvement of electrochemical performances of the synthesized materials is observed mostly during cyclic stability measurements and at high current regimes. The obtained results confirm that the addition of only 3% of carbon nanotubes provides the best electrochemical performances as electrode materials for supercapacitor application. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137 , 48867.