Electrochemical synthesis of Sm2O3 nanoparticles: Application in conductive polymer composite films for supercapacitors

A novel electrosynthetic method was introduced to synthesize of Sm2O3 nanoparticles and furthermore, for improving the electrochemical performance of conductive polymer, hybrid POAP/Sm2O3 films have then been fabricated by POAP electropolymerization in the presence of Sm2O3 nanoparticles as active electrodes for electrochemical supercapacitors. The structure, morphology, chemical composition of Sm2O3 nanoparticles was examined. Surface and electrochemical analyses have been used for characterization of Sm2O3 and POAP/Sm2O3 composite films. Different electrochemical methods including galvanostatic charge discharge experiments, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy have been applied to study the system performance. The supercapacity behavior of the composite film was attributed to the (i) high active surface area of the composite, (ii) charge transfer along the polymer chain due to the conjugation form of the polymer and finally (iii) synergism effect between conductive polymer and Sm2O3 nanoparticles. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.