Preparation of Polyaniline/Mesoporous Silica Hybrid and Its Electrochemical Properties

Polyaniline/mesoporous silica hybrids were prepared by chemical modification with aniline and their capacitances were examined for application to electrode of electrochemical capacitor. The chemical modification was performed by two kinds of processes, polymer insertion into pores and in-situ polymerization within pores. In the case of the polymer insertion process, since the mean pore sizes of the hybrid did not change, polyaniline molecules were not inserted. On the other hand, in the case of the in-situ polymerization process, the mean pore sizes decreased from that of mesoporous silica, while the XRD patterns became broad. Therefore, aniline molecules polymerized in the inside of pores, however, the mesoporous silica collapsed in part. Maximum capacitance measured in 1 mol/l H₂SO₄ aqueous solution was around 226 F per unit mass of polyaniline.