title: Facile preparation and enhanced capacitance of the polyaniline/sodium alginate nanofiber network for supercapacitors.
abstract: A porous and mat-like polyaniline/sodium alginate (PANI/SA) composite with excellent electrochemical properties was polymerized in an aqueous solution with sodium sulfate as a template. Ultraviolet-visible spectra, X-ray diffraction pattern, and Fourier transform infrared spectra were employed to characterize the PANI/SA composite, indicating that the PANI/SA composite was successfully prepared. The PANI/SA nanofibers with uniform diameters from 50 to 100 nm can be observed on scanning electron microscopy. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests were carried out to investigate the electrochemical properties. The PANI/SA nanostructure electrode exhibits an excellent specific capacitance as high as 2093 F g(-1), long cycle life, and fast reflect of oxidation/reduction on high current changes. The remarkable electrochemical characteristic is attributed to the nanostructured electrode materials, which generates a high electrode/electrolyte contact area and short path lengths for electronic transport and electrolyte ion. The approach is simple and can be easily extended to fabricate nanostructural composites for supercapacitor electrode materials.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yingzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dajun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen