Facile Synthesis and Electrochemical Characterization of Polyaniline@TiO2-CuO Ternary Composite as Electrodes for Supercapacitor Applications

This research reports the facile, controlled, low-cost fabrication, and evaluation of properties of polyaniline matrix deposited on titanium dioxide and copper(II) oxide ternary-composite (PANI@TiO2-CuO)-based electrode material for supercapacitor application. The process involves the preparation of CuO in the presence of TiO2 to form TiO2-CuO by a facile method, followed by in-situ oxidative polymerization of aniline monomer. The structural and physical properties were evaluated based on the results of FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron (TEM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and BET surface areas analysis. The results indicated that TiO2-CuO was dispersed uniformly in the PANI matrix. Owing to such dispersion of TiO2-CuO, the PANI@TiO2-CuO material exhibits dramatic improvements on thermal stability in comparison with the pure PANI. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) confirms the reversibility of PANI redox transitions for this optimized electrode material. Moreover, the results reveal that the specific capacitance of PANI@TiO2-CuO reaches 87.5% retention after 1500 cycles under 1.0 A g-1, with a better charge storage performance as compared to pure PANI and PANI@TiO2 electrodes. The preparation of PANI@TiO2-CuO with enhanced electrochemical properties provides a feasible route for promoting its applications in supercapacitors.