Organic acid doped polythiophene nanoparticles as electrode material for redox supercapacitors

An organic acid doped electronically conducting polymer nanomaterial, polythiophene- tartaric acid (PTh-TA) nanoparticles, was prepared by cationic surfactant-assisted dilute polymerization method. The physical properties of the synthesized polymer were characterized by FT-IR, UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, SEM, and electrical conductivity studies. The symmetric type redox supercapacitor performances were studied in PVdF-HFP in 1M LiPF(6) containing EC&PC ( 1: 1 v/v) based microporous polymer electrolyte. The specific capacitance of the capacitor was found to be 156 F g(-1). The energy and power densities were calculated as 14Whkg(-1) and 522Wkg(-1), respectively. The value of capacitance was found to be almost stable up to 1000 cycles and even more. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.