Programmable coating of polyaniline on hemispherical nitrogen-doped mesoporous hollow carbon as high performance material for supercapacitor

• Published in: Materials today communications 2021-12, Vol.29, p.102915, Article 102915
• Main Authors: Thakur, Anukul K., Majumder, Mandira, Choudhary, Ram Bilash, Singh, Shashi B., Patole, Shashikant P., Dubal, Deepak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electrochemical performance; Hemispherical structure; Mesoporous carbon; Polyaniline; Volumetric capacitance
• ISSN: 2352-4928; 2352-4928
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mtcomm.2021.102915

Miniaturized electronic and wearable devices require energy storage systems, which can store a large amount of energy in a very narrow space/volume. Supercapacitors are considered as promising devices for portable electronics due to their robust performance and ultra-high cycling stability; however, their volumetric capacitance is far from the reality. Herein, we have developed a hybrid of nitrogen-doped hemispherical structured carbon (HNC) and polyaniline (PANI). Synergistic contribution of pseudocapacitive PANI and electric double layer capacitive HNC results in remarkably improved electrochemical properties. An optimized HNC/PANI-0.05 composite displayed 16.19 times improvement in the volumetric capacitance (1263 F cm−3) and seven times in gravimetric capacitance (547 F g−1) than that of pure HNC. The composite also showcases improved energy, power density, and cyclic stability. Hence, in the HNC/PANI-0.05 composite achievement of a balance between the mesoporosity and high value density imparts a high gravimetric capacitance together with an excellent volumetric capacitance. Hemispherical nitrogen doped carbon coated with polyaniline provides continuously connected framework and exposes larger surface for charge storage. [Display omitted]