Supercapacitive performance of chemically synthesized polypyrrole thin films: effect of monomer to oxidant ratio

Polypyrrole (PPY) thin films with different PPY monomer to ammonium peroxidisulphate (APS) oxidant molar ratios have been synthesized using simple and inexpensive chemical oxidative polymerization method. An interrelation between the monomer to oxidant molar ratio, morphology and supercapacitive performance of PPY thin films is studied. Initial polymerization conditions strongly affect the morphology and electrical properties of PPY thin films. Thermo-gravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric curves show the thermal stability of PPY up to 483 K. The supercapacitive performance of PPY films is studied using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. In the present work, PPY films deposited with 0.1:0.2 monomer to oxidant molar ratio (pyrrole:APS) show maximum specific capacitance of 754 F g(-1) in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte at the scan rate 5 mV s(-1) in potential window of -0.4 to +0.6 V/SCE.