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pps proceeding
Symposium: S06 - Nanocomposites
Oral Presentation
 
 

Multiwall Carbon nano-tubes/conductive polymer composite for supercapacitor applications

Lee Ka yeung Terence (1), Naguib Hani E (1)*, Lian Keryn (1)

(1) University of Toronto - Ontario - Canada

In this study, three types of electrically conductive polymers (ECP), namely polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (Ppy) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composite with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as supercapacitor electrode’s material were investigated. An improvement in capacitive performance due to the combination of pseudo capacitance and double layer capacitance was observed. The nano-composites were fabricated by polymerizing pseudocapacitve ECP onto the MWCNT surface for through the in-situ chemical polymerization approach. Stainless steel thin foil was used as a current collector as well as a flexible back bone. Weighted Graphite conductive ink and polytetrafluroethlene (PTFE) was used as binder materials. Parametric studies were conducted to determine the optimal proportion between MWCNT and ECP. MWCNTs were found to act as support for the polymerization of the ECP into tubular structure in both Ppy/MWCNT and PANI/MWCNT composites. Whereas PEDOT: PSS was loosely connected within the MWCNT network. The best performing ECP/MWCNT compositions are PANI/MWCNT (84:16), Ppy/MWCNT (78.3:21.7) and PEDOT: PSS/ MWCNT (86.3:13.7) respectively. The best capacitive performance was resulted from Ppy/MWCNT composites. Single electrode capacitance was improved from ~42.6F/g for bare MWCNT electrode to ~206.26 F/g @10mV/s in 1M H2SO4 electrolyte. An improvement in capacitive performance due to the combination of pseudo capacitance and double layer capacitance was observed. An optimal ECP concentration is essential in controlling the electrochemical performance by allowing effective interaction between the ECP and MWCNT to promote the materials’ conductivity and minimize the charge transfer resistance. In addition, this can allow an effective usage of the porous network for both double layer and pseudocapacitive charge storage.