Investigations on copper chloride doped polyaniline composites as efficient electrode materials for supercapacitor applications

In this study, we have discussed the potential of using copper chloride (CuCl2) doped Polyaniline (PANI) as an electrode material for supercapacitor application. PANI in pure and doped forms with various doping levels of CuCl2 (doping levels of 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt%) were synthesized by in situ polymerization method, using ammonium peroxodisulfate as oxidant in HCl medium. The morphology of the doped polymeric materials was studied by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope analysis. The interaction between PANI and the metal cation (Cu2+) was confirmed by the fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Thermal stability of the materials was examined by thermogravimetric analysis. Electrochemical characterizations of the materials were carried out by three electrode probe method where, platinum and saturated standard calomel electrode were used as counter and reference electrode respectively. 1 M KCl solution was used as electrolyte for all the electrochemical characterizations. Among all the materials, PANI shows highest specific capacitance value at the doping level of 2 wt%.