Supramolecular design strategy of cyclodextrin polymer-polyaniline/hollow carbon spheres with core-shell nanostructures for supercapacitor

Controllable polymerization is of great significance for the design of nanoscale devices with high electrochemical performances. In this study, cyclodextrin polymer (CDP)-functionalized polyaniline (PANI)/hollow carbon sphere (HCS) composites were prepared by an in-situ polymerization strategy. HCSs were used as carbon structural templates. CDP can be decorated with a controllable PANI layer owing to supramolecular interactions, effectively preventing the problem of secondary growth of PANI during the polymerization of aniline. Consequently, the integration promotes the more consistent growth of PANI on HCS and further ameliorates the capacitance performance of CDP-PANI/HCS. In a three-electrode system, the specific capacitance of PANI/HCS at 1 A g−1 was 390 F g−1, which can be increased to 569 F g−1 after CDP-induced polymerization. CDP-PANI/HCS shows a high energy density of 24.5 Wh∙kg−1 at a power density of 700 W kg−1, and the energy density still retains 15.5 Wh∙kg−1 even at a higher power density of 14000 W kg−1. Thus, the strategy established in this work has great potential for improving the growth of polymers via CDP-assisted polymerization. Cyclodextrin polymer-functionalized polyaniline/hollow carbon spheres were prepared by an in-situ polymerization strategy. The composites with core-shell nanostructures have great potentials for supercapacitors. [Display omitted] •PANI was successfully grown in situ on the surface of hollow carbon spheres derived from CD.•The composite exhibited a good specific surface area and high specific capacitance.•The composites with core-shell nanostructures have great potentials for supercapacitors.