Application of Cr-metal organic framework (MOF) modified polyaniline/graphene oxide materials in supercapacitors

Polyaniline (PANI) has been widely used for the energy storage applications either as a conducting agent or directly as an electroactive material due to the tunable pseudocapacitive performance owing to its various oxidation states. Nanocomposites including PANI, PANI/graphene oxide (PANI/GO), and PANI/GO/Cr-MOF were synthesized via a novel in situ chemical oxidative polymerization method including two oxidants. The structure and morphology of composites were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. Furthermore, PANI, PANI/GO, and PANI/GO/Cr-MOF were assembled as positive electrode materials into a button-type supercapacitor for electrochemical performance testing; the electrochemical performances of the composites were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques in detail. The ASC (asymmetric supercapacitors) possessed an extended potential window (0.8 V), an extraordinary specific capacitance (243.125 F/g at 0.5 A/g, 243 F/g at 1 A/g, and 242.5 F/g at 2 A/g, and these data fully demonstrate that this material has excellent rate performance), a remarkable cycling property (90.72% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles), and a satisfactory average energy and power density (21.56 wh/kg and 3.6 kW/kg).