Silver assisted PANI-RGO: A Cutting-Edge approach to supercapacitor applications

In this research, highly efficient and low cost synthesis approach was applied to produce three distinct electrode materials: reduced graphene oxide (RGO), silver nanoparticles incorporated with RGO, and polyaniline (PANI) in conjunction with RGO decorated with silver nanostructures (RGO.Ag). These materials were subsequently integrated into a composite electrode material as PANI@RGO.Ag, designed specifically for deployment in symmetric supercapacitor applications. A comprehensive characterization process was executed employing a range of material analysis techniques, including X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Through the implementation of a supercapacitor setup, a series of electrochemical tests were conducted in a 6 M KOH electrolyte solution. The results demonstrated that the composite material of PANI@RGO.Ag exhibited the highest specific capacitance, reaching 385.4 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s. This marked an improvement over the specific capacitance values of the individual components, with crude reduced graphene oxide (167.39 F/g) and RGO-Ag (296.7 F/g) exhibiting lower capacitance levels. In additions, the calculated energy and power densities were 27 Wh/Kg and 1046.29 W/kg at a current density of 0.5 A/g while retained 87.18% of its initial capacitance over 2000 cycles at 2 A/g. According to this work, it was found that the hybrid of PANI and RGO.Ag layers resulted in the formation of an extensively porous framework that facilitated the adsorption of ions from the electrolyte. This phenomenon contributed to an enhanced electrochemical behavior.