Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Nanostructures for High-Performance Supercapacitor Energy Storage Devices

Abstract

Background The rising consumption of energy in the world and the constraints of the conventional batteries have enhanced the attraction to the supercapacitors as promising energy storage devices. Their extensive use has, however, been limited by low energy density. In order to surpass this, hybrid organic inorganic nanostructures have soaked up area of consideration as they have a potential to achieve high conductivity, stability and capacitance in the combination of metal oxides, conducting polymers and carboneous materials.

Aim The present project is dedicated to designing and testing hybrid organic-inorganic nanostructures that have a potential to boost the electrochemical efficiency of supercapacitors leading to efficient energy storage.

Method The constructive investigation has been conducted on four different hybrid nanostructures such as MnO 2 /PPy /Graphene, Co 3 O 4 /PPy /Graphene, NiO /PPy /Graphene, and PPy /Graphene synthesized through hydrothermal treatment, in situ polymerization, and sol-gel methodologies. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), BrunauerEmmettTeller (BET) test and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the materials. The electrochemical performance was evaluated using the cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

Results The MnO 2 /PPy/Graphene hybrid nanostructure recorded the best specific capacitance (955 F/g at 1 A /g), energy density of 41.4 Wh/kg and power density of 2800 W/kg. In addition, it had high cycling stability with 96 percent capacitance remaining after subjecting it to 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. Such improved characteristics have been considered to be a product of the synergetic action between the composite materials.

Conclusion Supercapacitors based on hybrid organic-inorganic nanocomposites, especially MnO 2-polypyrrole-graphene nanocomposites give considerable enhancements on performance. The given approach is one of the potential paths toward designing of high-performance energy storage of the next generation.