Polypyrrole and Composite Electrodes for Electrochemical S upercapacitors

Abstract

<p>Electrochemical supercapacitors (ES) have become an attractive technology in electrical energy storage devices and found many applications in a number of areas. The development of ES requires fabrication of advanced electrodes with novel materials and new techniques. Conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) has been found to be a promising electrode for ES due to its high pseudo capacitance and good electrical conductivity. The polypyrrole based composite electrode with multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been proved to enhance the electrochemical performance of ES.</p> <p>Anodic electrochemical deposition of polypyrrole film and composite with MWCNTs has been successfully achieved on a stainless steel substrates in aqueous solutions. Novel additives, such as tiron (4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid disodium salt) and sodium salicylate have been employed for the electro-synthesis of PPy. The role of additives in the electrodeposition process have been discussed. The electrochemical properties of PPy and PPylMWCNT composite have been investigated and compared by using different characterization techniques.</p> <p>The results showed that good quality PPy film and PPy/MWCNT composite can be obtained on stainless steel without anodic dissolution of anode using novel additives in aqueous solutions. The PPy films provided corrosion protection for stainless steel in aqueous solutions. High electrochemical performance of PPy film was achieved, the electrochemical behavior of PPy electrodes was significantly enhanced when MWCNTs were incorporated into the film matrix. Hence, investigations in this work indicated that PPy and PPy/MWCNT composite deposited on the stainless steel substrates are promising electrode materials for ES.</p>