Supercapacitor based on polymeric binary composite of polythiophene and single-walled carbon nanotubes

Azza Shokry; Marwa Karim; Marwa Khalil; Shaker Ebrahim; Jehan El Nady

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-15477-z

Supercapacitor based on polymeric binary composite of polythiophene and single-walled carbon nanotubes

Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 4;12(1):11278. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-15477-z.

Authors

Azza Shokry¹, Marwa Karim², Marwa Khalil³, Shaker Ebrahim⁴, Jehan El Nady⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University, 163 Horrya Avenue, El-Shatby, P.O.Box 832, Alexandria, Egypt. azzashokry@alexu.edu.eg.
² Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Moharram Bek, P.O. Box 21511, Alexandria, Egypt.
³ Department of Nanotechnology and Composite Materials, Institute of New Materials and Advanced Technology, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg El Arab City, P.O. Box 21934, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Materials Science, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University, 163 Horrya Avenue, El-Shatby, P.O.Box 832, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁵ Electronic Materials Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), New Borg El-Arab City, P.O. Box 21934, Alexandria, Egypt.

Abstract

The aim of this work is to fabricate supercapacitor electrode based on poly (3-hexyl-thiophene-2, 5-diyl) (P3HT) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) nanocomposites with different ratios onto a graphite sheet as a substrate with a wide voltage window in nonaqueous electrolyte. Structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of the prepared nanocomposites of P3HT/SWCNTs were studied and discussed. The electrochemical properties included cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charging-discharging (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were investigated. The obtained results indicated that P3HT/SWCNTs nanocomposite possesses higher specific capacitance than that present in its individual component. The high electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite was due to formation of microporous structure which facilitates ions diffusion and electrolyte penetration in these pores. The morphological micrographs of the purified SWCNTs had buckypaper structure while the photomicrographs of P3HT/SWCNTs showed that SWCNTs appear behind and front of the P3HT nanospheres. The specific capacitance of 50% SWCNTs at 0.5 Ag^-1 was found to be 245.8 Fg^-1 compared with that of pure P3HT of 160.5 Fg^-1.