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

Nadia Boutaleb; Fatima Zohra Dahou; Halima Djelad; Lilia Sabantina; Imane Moulefera; Abdelghani Benyoucef

doi:10.3390/polym14214562

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

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Oct 27;14(21):4562. doi: 10.3390/polym14214562.

Authors

Nadia Boutaleb¹, Fatima Zohra Dahou², Halima Djelad³, Lilia Sabantina⁴, Imane Moulefera⁵, Abdelghani Benyoucef⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dr. Moulay Tahar, Saida 20000, Algeria.
² Physics Department, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of Mustapha Stambouli, Mascara 29000, Algeria.
³ Department of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Materials, University of Alicante, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
⁴ Junior Research Group "Nanomaterials", Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany.
⁵ Chemical Engineering Department, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
⁶ L.S.T.E. Laboratory, Faculty of science and technology, University of Mustapha Stambouli, Mascara 29000, Algeria.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: copper(II) oxide; polyaniline; supercapacitors; ternary-composite; titanium dioxide.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.