Graphene-based polyaniline nanocomposites: preparation, properties and applications

Abstract

Graphene is very popular in recent years, due to its unique electrical, thermal, mechanical, optical and electrochemical properties. With these useful advantages, graphene has been used as a substance to incorporate various kinds of functional materials. Among them, graphene-based polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites have attracted a great deal of interest due to their new properties or enhanced performance during the past few years. This is because PANI is a useful conducting polymer that has been widely used for electronic, optical and electrochemical applications owing to its low cost, good environmental stability, interesting electroactivity, high pseudocapacitance and unusual doping/dedoping chemistry. This review discusses the current development of graphene-based PANI nanocomposites. After introduction of the properties of graphene, we summarize various methods to synthesize graphene-based PANI nanocomposites, as well as their enhanced properties. Finally, the applications of graphene-based PANI nanocomposites, such as supercapacitors, sensing platforms, fuel cells, solar cells, electrochromic devices, lithium ion batteries and so on, are described.