Three-dimensional and stable polyaniline-grafted graphene hybrid materials for supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

A novel route is introduced to synthesize hierarchical polyaniline-grafted reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hybrid materials by polyaniline nanorods covalently bonded on the surface of rGO. Aminophenyl groups were initially grafted on rGO via diazonium treatment. Then the PANI nanorods were aligned vertically on rGO to construct a three-dimensional (3D) structure. The 3D structure could shorten the electronic transmission path and form abundant space for electrolyte ions. The hybrid materials fabricated as supercapacitor electrodes exhibited a maximal specific capacitance of 1045.51 F g⁻¹, and the energy density (E) could achieve an upper value of 8.3 W h kg⁻¹ at the current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹ simultaneously. Such highly stable three-dimensional structural materials are very promising for the next generation of high-performance electrochemical supercapacitors.