Modern world uses electricity in different forms for various purposes, some may store it for a later use or some may use it directly. The growing demand for hybrid electric vehicles and portable systems requiring more power to be delivered in less amount of time is pushing the need for electrochemical capacitors. Compared to batteries, electrochemical capacitors or supercapacitors exhibit faster and higher power transport capability, longer life, very low maintenance and wide thermal operating range. Using Graphene/Polyaniline nanofiber (G-PANI) composites as the electrodes for these supercapacitors can be a potential benefit in terms of quantum of electricity delivered in the given amount of time as well as the durability of the supercapacitor as a whole. Here, chemically modified graphene and PANI nanofiber composites were used as electrodes, which were prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline monomer in the presence of graphene oxide under acidic conditions. Then, the obtained graphene oxide/PANI composites were reduced to graphene using hydrazine followed by re-oxidation and re-protonation of the reduced PANI to give graphene/PANI composites. The morphology, composition, and electronic structure of the composites together with pure polyaniline fibers (PANI-F), graphene oxide (G-O), and graphene (G) were characterized for their performance. Most of the composites show high electrical conductivities which are essential for their application as electrode materials for supercapacitors. Results have proven that high specific capacitance (about 480 F/g) at a current density of 0.1 A/g and good cycling stability can be obtained by doping the carbon materials. Keywords: graphene, polyaniline, supercapacitor, capacitance, compositeCite this Article Kanhere S, Waghanna S, Bondar N. Graphene-based polyaniline nanofiber composites as supercapacitor Electrodes. Journal of NanoTrends. 2015; 17(3): 47–53p.
