Electrochemical fabrication of rGO/PANI-Au-γMnO 2 nanocomposites as supercapacitor electrode materials

Conducting polymer nanocomposites comprising γMnO2 nanostructure and Au nanoparticles were electrochemically synthesized on stainless steel mesh and coated with graphene oxide for supercapacitor applications. Polyaniline (PANI) and its polymeric nanocomposites were electrodeposited via in situ polymerization reaction by cyclic voltammetric technique. PANI, rGO/PANI, rGO/PANI-Au, rGO/PANI-γMnO2 and rGO/PANI-γMnO2-Au polymeric nanocomposite films were prepared as electrodes on the stainless-steel mesh and were characterized by FT-IR, EDX, FESEM and BET analysis. The electrochemical properties were tested using cyclic voltammetry (CV), Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge–discharge tests where rGO/PANI-γMnO2-Au electrode displayed enhanced specific capacitance of 557 F g−1 in comparison to other electrodes in the scan rate of 40 mVs−1. After 2000 cycles, the rGO/PANI-γMnO2-Au nanocomposite could retain more than 70% of its initial capacitance, while showing good recyclability and reversible capacitance.