In-Situ Preparation of Graphene/Carbon Nanotube/Poly(styrenesulfonic acid-graft-polyaniline) Nanocomposite via Direct Exfoliation of Graphite for Supercapacitor Application

Abstract

Graphene/carbon nanotube/poly(styrenesulfonic acid-graft-aniline) (Gr/CNT/S-g-A) composites are prepared through direct exfoliation of graphite using S-g-A as a surfactant. Compared with other fabrication methods of graphene/CNT/polyaniline composites such as in-situ polymerization and electrochemical polymerization, the direct exfoliation method yields higher quality of graphene, because graphite is directly used as a precursor for graphene without chemical treatment. The in-situ prepared nanocomposite of Gr/CNT/S-g-A exhibits a superior specific capacitance of 531 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g, which is one of the highest values among supercapacitor electrodes based on graphene/CNT/polyaniline composites. This high value of specific capacitance is attributed to taking both advantages of high specific area of graphene and CNT and high pseudocapacitance of polyaniline.