One-pot synthesis of ternary polypyrrole-Prussian-blue-graphene-oxide hybrid composite as electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors

A ternary composite of polypyrrole (PPy), Prussian blue (PB), and graphene oxide (GO), PPy-PB-GO, was successfully prepared through spontaneous polymerization of pyrrole and formation of PB nanocubes on GO. The obtained nanocomposite was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicate that the PPy-protected PB nanocubes were well dispersed on the GO. Electrochemical testing showed a specific capacitance of 525.4 F g(-1) at a current density of 5 A g(-1) in the potential range from 0.2 to 0.6 V, obtained in an electrolyte of 1 mol L-1 KNO3 during the galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles, which is superior to the performance of binary cathode materials, including PPy-PB and PPy-GO nanocomposites. The as-prepared supercapacitor could retain a specific capacitance of 96% after 2000 cycles. It was confirmed that the three components PPy, PB, and GO led to the display of integrated electrochemical behavior and a resulting capacitor with enhanced performance. The significant enhancement in electrochemical performance of the ternary nanocomposite can be attributed to the synergistic effect of PPy-protected PB nanocubes dispersed on GO sheets with the pseudocapacitance from PB and PPy on the double-layer capacitance from GO. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.