Supercapacitors based on conducting

polymers/nanotubes composites
E. Frackowiak , V. Khomenko , K. Jurewicz, K. Lota , F. Beguin

Poznan University of Technology, Poland

CRMD, CNRS-University, France

Journal of Power Sources 153 (2006) 413–418

Karthikeyan G (09MS6021)

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 1

What is a Supercapacitor?

•High surface area – high energy density

•Capacitance range – order of farads

•Activated carbons

•Carbon Nanotubes

•CNTs impregnated Conductive Polymers

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 2

Use of conducting polymers

•Polyaniline (PANI)
•Polypyrrole (PPy)
•Poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)

Advantages:
•High capacitance
•High charge storage

Disadvantages:
•Poor stability during cycling – swelling, shrinkage, cracks
•Polymer degradation

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 3

Chemical Polymerisation
PANI/CNTs:
•0.4 ml of aniline + 0.4 gm of K2Cr2O7 in 50 ml of 1 mol/L HCl
ECP – 80 wt.%
PPy/CNTs:
CNTs – 20 wt.%
•0.5 ml of pyrrole + 1.2 gm of FeCl3 in 50 ml of 0.1 mol/L HCl
PEDOT/CNTs:
•1 mol/L EDOT + 1.2 mol/L FeCl3 in acetonitrile

Capacitance characterization:
•Electrodes – pellets of 5-20 mg
•Dielectric – glassy fibrous paper
•Capacitance characterized by Impedance Spectroscopy using C=−(1/(2πfZ))
•Frequency – 0.001-100000 Hz

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 4

 SEM, HITACHI S 4200
SEM analysis

SEM of composites from CNTs with PANI (a),

PPy (b) and PEDOT (c)

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 5

 Capacitance properties
•Pure CNTs – 20 F/g
•PANI/CNT composite – 300 F/g
•Ppy/CNT composite – 200 F/g
•PEDOT/CNT composite – 100 F/g
Impedance spectroscopy of PANI/CNTs

•Current load – 300 mA/g

•Voltage – 0.6 V
•3000 cycles

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 6

 Capacitance properties
PANI/CNTs composites
Current load – 300 mA/g

Cycling life of capacitor decreases

after increase in operating voltage

PPy/CNTs composites
Current load – 2 mA/g

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 7

 Capacitance properties
PANI/CNTs and Ppy/CNTs:
•Lower operating voltage – 10-15% loss of capacitance after 100 cycles
•Higher operating voltage – 40% loss of capacitance after 500 cycles
PEDOT/CNTS:
•Perfect stability of capacitance at lower operative voltage

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 8

Conclusion
•CNT impregnated conducting polymers – unique micro structural, good mechanical
properties, conducting properties

•Application of CNTs enables to extract fully the energy from the conducting polymers

•We have to optimize the voltage and capacitance for the required application

•Good stability in capacitance even after 3000 cycles in PANI/CNTs

•Use of hybrid systems shows the very high capacitance up to 320 F/g

•Addition enhanced voltage was achieved using activated carbon as negative electrode
and conducting polymer/CNTs composites as positive electrode

February 1, 2010 © Karthikeyan G 9