Polyaniline/MnO₂ composite with high performance as supercapacitor electrode via pulse electrodeposition

Abstract

A method of pulse electrodeposition was proposed to synthesize polyaniline (PANI)/MnO 2 composite in aniline, H 2 SO 4 , and MnSO 4 aqueous solution. The PANI/MnO 2 composite has rod‐like structure and MnO 2 particles are distributed on PANI uniformly. To evaluate the performance of the as‐prepared materials as supercapacitor electrodes, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were performed. The PANI/MnO 2 composite shows a higher specific capacitance (810 F g −1 ) than pure PANI (662 F g −1 ) at a current density of 0.5 A g −1 . The cycle life of the composite was also excellent. After 1,000 cycles, it maintained 86.3% of its initial capacitance. POLYM. COMPOS., 36:113–120, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers