Electropolymerized polypyrrole nanocomposites with cobalt oxide coated on carbon paper for electrochemical energy storage. (12th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wei, Huige; He, Cuizhu; Liu, Jiurong; Gu, Hongbo; Wang, Yiran; Yan, Xingru; Guo, Jiang; Ding, Daowei; Shen, Nancy Z.; Wang, Xuefeng; Wei, Suying; Guo, Zhanhu
• Is Part Of: Polymer. Volume 67(2015)
• Page Start: 192
• Page End: 199
• Publication Date: 2015-06-12
• Subjects: Cobalt oxide -- Polypyrrole -- Carbon paper; Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; Polymères -- Périodiques; Polymérisation -- Périodiques; 547.7
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2015.04.064
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-3861

Abstract

Abstract: Polypyrrole (PPy)/cobalt oxide (Co3 O4 )/carbon paper (CP) ternary composites prepared by potentiodynamic electropolymerization of pyrrole monomers onto flower-like Co3 O4 (f-Co3 O4 ) nanoparticles coated on CP (PPy/f-Co3 O4 /CP) were studied serving as electrode materials for supercapacitor applications. The f-Co3 O4 with unique porous morphology on CP was first obtained by drop casting Co3 O4 ethanol suspensions onto CP. Ball-like Co3 O4 (b-Co3 O4 ) with dense structure was also prepared for comparison. The electrochemical results including cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) in 2.0 M KOH aqueous solution revealed that the PPy/Co3 O4 /CP ternary composites exhibited superior supercapacitive performances than both f-Co3 O4 /CP and b-Co3 O4 /CP. Specifically, a specific capacitance of 398.4 F/g was obtained for the PPy/f-Co3 O4 /CP, much higher than that of 40.9 and 22.0 F/g for f-Co3 O4 /CP and b-Co3 O4 /CP, respectively. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies suggested that better capacitive properties in PPy/f-Co3 O4 /CP were attributed to the pseudocapacitive contributions from the PPy nanocoating and greatly reduced charge transfer resistance in the composites. PPy/f-Co3 O4 /CP also displayed an excellent cycling stability with negligible capacitance loss after 1000 cycles. Graphical abstract: Highlights: Three-dimensional flower- and ball-like cobalt oxides synthesized using facile solvothermal method. The flower-like (f-)Co3 O4 displays unique morphology and larger specific areas than ball-like (b-)Co3 O4 . PPy/f-Co3 O4 /CP ternary composites have been prepared by electropolymerization. PPy/f-Co3 O4 /CP ternary composites exhibit enhanced supercapacitive performances due to facilitated charge transfer.