Synthesis and highly efficient supercapacitor behavior of a novel poly pyrrole/ceramic oxide nanocomposite film

Abstract

A novel electrochemical synthetic method for yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG:Al₅Y₃O₁₂) was successfully developed in a mixture of YCl₃ and AlCl₃ aqueous solution. The electrosynthesized YAG was further annealed and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A Ppy/YAG thin film electrode was synthesized electrochemically as an electrochemical supercapacitor. Scanning electron micrographs clearly reveal the formation of nanocomposites on the surface of the working electrode. Different electrochemical techniques, including galvanostatic charge–discharge (CD) experiments, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), were used to investigate the applicability of the system as a supercapacitor. Based on the electrochemical results obtained, Ppy/YAG gave higher specific capacitance, power and energy values than Ppy at a current density of 1 mA cm⁻². The specific capacitance (SC) of the Ppy and Ppy/YAG electrodes was calculated using the CV method, which was 109 and 254 F g⁻¹, respectively. This study introduces new nanocomposite materials for electrochemical redox capacitors, which have advantages, such as long life cycle and stability in an aqueous electrolyte, to that of the commonly used ruthenium based perovskites.