Enhanced electrochemical performance of polyaniline/carbon/titanium nitride nanowire array for flexible supercapacitor

The ternary nanocomposite of polyaniline/carbon/titanium nitride (PANI/C/TiN) nanowire array (NWA) is fabricated as electroactive electrode material for flexible supercapacitor application. Firstly, TiN NWA is formed through ammonia nitridation treatment of TiO2 NWA, which is synthesized via seed-assisted hydrothermal reaction. PANI/C/TiN NWA is then formed through sequentially coating carbon and PANI on the surface of TiN NWA. PANI/C/TiN NWA has unique shell/shell/core architecture, including a core layer of TiN NWA with a diameter of 40-160 nm and a length of 1.5 mu m, a middle shell layer of carbon with a thickness of about 6.0 nm and an external surface layer of PANI with a thickness of 20-50 nm. PANI/C/TiN NWA provides ion diffusion channel at interspaces between the neighboring nanowires and electron transfer route along independent nanowires. The carbon shell layer is able to protect TiN NWA from electrochemical corrosion during charge/discharge process. PANI/C/TiN NWA displays high specific capacitance of 1093 F g(-1) at 1.0 Ag-1, and good cycling stability with a capacity retention of 98% after 2000 cycles, presenting better supercapacitive performance than other integrated nanocomposites of C/PANI/TiN, PANI/TiN and PANI/C/TiO2 NWA. Such a ternary nanocomposite of PANI/C/TiN NWA can be used as an electrode material of flexible supercapacitors. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.