Synthesis Processes of Carbonaceous Material/Conducting Polymer Nanocomposites in Relation to Grafting and Electrochemical Properties for Supercapacitor Application: A Review

Supercapacitors are the energy storage devices that have gained increased attention due to high charge storage capacity, fast charge-discharge rate, high specific power and excellent cycle stability. Recently, research on supercapacitors is focused on the development of new electrode materials prepared by surface engineering to obtain superior electrochemical performance. Carbonaceous materials (CM) such as graphene, graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) etc. and conducting polymer (CP) based composite materials have gained increased attention for their use in supercapacitors. The nanocomposites obtained by merely mixing these two components pose some serious drawbacks such as low conductivity or poor film forming ability. The conjugation of CPs to CMs through covalent bonds is able to address these drawbacks. This review mainly provide collective information about various synthetic strategies to obtain CP grafted CMs for supercapacitor application. Herein, we provide information on different CP-CM conjugation reactions for obtaining the composites and their effects on electrochemical performances. The analysis revealed the importance of CP-CM grafting is important for tuning the electrochemical properties of the materials.