Nickel (II) phthalocyanine-multi-walled carbon nanotube hybrids as supercapacitors

Abstract

The thesis examines for the first time the supercapacitive properties of three different nickel (II) phthalocyanine complexes, nickel (II) tetraamino phthalocyanine (NiTAPc), nickel (II) phthalocyanine and nickel (II) tetra tert-butylphthalocyanine as a) nanocomposites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes and as (b) an electropolymer supported on multiwalled carbon nanotube platform (MWCNT-polyNiTAPc). The supercapacitive properties of nickel (II) tetraaminophthalocyanine (NiTAPc)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposite films have been found to possess a maximum specific capacitance of 981 F g-1 (200 mF cm-2), a maximum power density of 700 Wkg -1, a maximum specific energy of 134 Wh kg-1 and excellent stability of over 1500 chargedischarge continuous cycling. When compared to MWCNTs modified with unsubstituted nickel (II) phthalocyanine (MWCNT-NiPc) or nickel (II) tetra tert-butylphthalocyanine (MWCNT-tBuNiPc), MWCNT-NiTAPc exhibited superior supercapacitive behaviour, possibly due to the influence of nitrogen-containing groups on the phthalocyanine. The MWCNTpolyNiTAPc electrode had a maximum (112 mF cm-2) capacitance which was higher than that observed for MWCNT-polyNi(OH)TAPc (84.9 mFcm-2) but lower that of the MWCNT-NiTAPc (200 mF cm-2). Copyright