Electrochemical fabrication and supercapacitor performances of metallo phthalocyanine/functionalized-multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyaniline modified hybrid electrode materials

In this work, we aimed to prepare three different metallo phthalocyanine/functionalized-multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyaniline/pencil graphite electrode (MPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE) modified electrodes with high specific capacitance, high energy and power densities, and long cycle life for supercapacitors. In this concept, ZnPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE, CuPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE, and NiPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE electrode materials were prepared by electrochemical method. The surface and structural properties of the prepared electrodes were investigated with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Atomic force microscope (AFM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and electrical conductivity analyses. The electrochemical properties of these electrode materials were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) analyses. The effects of preparation parameters and composite composition of the electrodes on electrochemical performance were investigated. The NiPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE electrode has higher specific capacitance (325 F/g) than ZnPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE (278 F/g), CuPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE (282 F/g), f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE (162 F/g), and PANI/PGE (126 F/g) electrodes. In addition, all MPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE electrodes have long-cycle life and maintained approximately 100% of its capacitance after 1000 charge-discharge cycles. As a result, the prepared MPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE electrodes significantly removed the disadvantages of the components, and the synergistic effects between the components considerably improved supercapacitor performance of the electrodes.

Automated summary

In this study, three different metallo phthalocyanine/functionalized-multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyaniline/pencil graphite electrode (MPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE) modified electrodes were prepared for supercapacitors, exhibiting high specific capacitance, energy and power densities, and long cycle life. The NiPc/f-MWCNT/PANI/PGE electrode showed the highest specific capacitance among all electrodes and maintained approximately 100% of its capacitance after 1000 charge-discharge cycles. The synergistic effects between the components significantly improved the overall supercapacitor performance of the electrodes, addressing the disadvantages of individual components.