Effect of compounding process on the structure and electrochemical properties of ordered mesoporous carbon/polyaniline composites as electrodes for supercapacitors

Polyaniline (PANI) loaded ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) composites were prepared via different processes, involving the in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of OMC or its precursor and the direct physical mixing method. On the basis of analyzing the morphologies and structures of these three OMC/PANI composites, the influence of compounding processes on the electrochemical properties as electrodes for supercapacitors was first investigated. It was observed that regardless of compounding process, two distinct electrochemical behaviors took place on all of the composite electrodes, including a redox reaction with insertion and deinsertion of electrolyte ions, and electrostatic attraction at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Additionally, these OMC/PANI composites showed higher specific capacitances compared with pure OMC and PANI. Most significantly, the in situ synthesized OMC/PANI composite using OMC as a starting material exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 747 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹ and excellent rate capability, which was attributed to the high degree of dispersion of PANI and the contact of PANI with electrolyte as well as the double fixing effects of surface and mesopore of OMC on PANI.