Enhanced Adsorptive Properties and Pseudocapacitance of Flexible Polyaniline-Activated Carbon Cloth Composites Synthesized Electrochemically in a Filter-Press Cell

Electrochemical polymerization is known to be a suitable route to obtain conducting polymer-carbon composites uniformly covering the carbon support. In this work, we report the application of a filter-press electrochemical cell to polymerize polyaniline (PAni) on the surface of large-sized activated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials 2019-08, Vol.12 (16), p.2516
Main Authors: Quijada, César, Leite-Rosa, Larissa, Berenguer, Raúl, Bou-Belda, Eva
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activated carbon
Adsorption
Adsorptivity
Aniline
Batteries
Cloth
Conducting polymers
Direct current
Electric contacts
Electrochemical cells
Electrodes
Electrolytes
Filter presses
Graphene
Nanowires
Photoelectrons
Polyanilines
Polymer matrix composites
Polymerization
Scanning electron microscopy
Spectrum analysis
Sulfuric acid
Surface chemistry
Textiles
Thermogravimetric analysis
Thin films
Voltammetry
X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
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Summary:Electrochemical polymerization is known to be a suitable route to obtain conducting polymer-carbon composites uniformly covering the carbon support. In this work, we report the application of a filter-press electrochemical cell to polymerize polyaniline (PAni) on the surface of large-sized activated carbon cloth (ACC) by simple galvanostatic electropolymerization of an aniline-containing H SO electrolyte. Flexible composites with different PAni loadings were synthesized by controlling the treatment time and characterized by means of Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), physical adsorption of gases, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), cyclic voltammetry and direct current (DC) conductivity measurements. PAni grows first as a thin film mostly deposited inside ACC micro- and mesoporosity. At prolonged electropolymerization time, the amount of deposited PAni rises sharply to form a brittle and porous, thick coating of nanofibrous or nanowire-shaped structures. Composites with low-loading PAni thin films show enhanced specific capacitance, lower sheet resistance and faster adsorption kinetics of Acid Red 27. Instead, thick nanofibrous coatings have a deleterious effect, which is attributed to a dramatic decrease in the specific surface area caused by strong pore blockage and to the occurrence of contact electrical resistance. Our results demonstrate that mass-production restrictions often claimed for electropolymerization can be easily overcome.
ISSN:1996-1944
1996-1944
DOI:10.3390/ma12162516