Chitosan-ZnO/polyaniline ternary nanocomposite for high-performance supercapacitor

We report on the synthesis of chitosan-zinc oxide (ZnO)/polyaniline (CS-ZnO/PANI) ternary nanocomposites via in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of CS-ZnO nanocomposite prepared by simple precipitation method. The structure, morphology, and physicochemical properties of prepared ternary composites are characterized by Fourier transform infrared, UV–visible, X-ray diffraction, SEM, EDXS, TEM, thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis, and N 2 adsorption/desorption measurements. Their electrochemical properties are also investigated using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge tests, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Electrochemical measurements show that the mesoporous CS 0.12 -ZnO 2.5 /PANI electrode yields larger specific capacitance (587.15 F g −1 ) than the corresponding PANI-ZnO electrode without added chitosan and the capacitance retention is 80 % after 1,000 charge/discharge cycles at 175 mA cm −2 current density in the voltage range of 0 to 0.8 V vs. SCE, due to the synergistic effect among three components which result in enhanced specific capacitance and cycling stability. The resulting composites are promising electrode materials for high-performance, environmentally friendly, and low-cost electrical energy storage devices.