Effect of polymerization conditions on the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of SnO2/polypyrrole composites for supercapacitor applications

A stable and unique porous SnO2/polypyrrole composite has been successfully manufactured using various SnO2 loadings (5, 8, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) by applying a direct polymerization approach and employing a cheap oxidizing agent (FeCl3). The physicochemical properties of the new composites were investigated using X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectrometer (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and UV-Visible spectrometer. The estimated band gap energy (Eg) for SnO2/PPy composite revealed lower value similar to 1.1 eV than pure PPy suggesting good electronic conductivity. Optimization of the polymerization parameters indicated that the prepared SnO2/PPy composite at 0 degrees C with mass ratio 0.1 exhibited the highest specific capacitance similar to 450 F.g(-1) at 20 mV.S-1 with a significant improvement similar to 56% with respect to the pure PPy. The optimized SnO2/PPy electrode material revealed an excellent cyclability with constant loss in the capacitance retention similar to 5% from 500 to 1100 charge/discharge cycles till reach 94% capacitance retention after 1500 cycles. On the other hand, pure PPy displayed a continuous decrease in the capacitance retention approaching 75% after 1500 cycles. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A stable and unique porous SnO2/polypyrrole composite was successfully manufactured using a direct polymerization approach and a cheap oxidizing agent (FeCl3). The composite exhibited lower band gap energy and good electronic conductivity, resulting in improved specific capacitance and excellent cyclability.