Nanocomposite Supercapacitor Electrode from Sulfonated Graphene Oxide and Poly(pyrrole-(biphenyldisulfonic acid)-pyrrole)

Abstract

A well-ordered polymer nanocomposite was prepared as a supercapacitor electrode based on sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) and a two-monomer-connected precursor (TMCP). Biphenyldisulfonic acid (BPDSA) linked to two pyrrole (Py) molecules renders the precursor monomer Py:BPDSA:Py. When the TMCP is polymerized on SGO sheets, the ordered polymer nanostructure is formed, as determined by high-voltage electron microscopy (HVEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. When the ordered polymer with a compact structure is grown on SGO sheets, the surface area of the nanocomposite is significantly increased. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements show that the nanocomposite has a significantly high surface area of 61 m2 g–1. The electrochemical results of the nanocomposite with 20 wt % sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) have a synergistic effect in improving the specific capacitance of 566 F g–1 (where F = farad) at a current density of 1 A g–1 in a 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte, without using an additional current collector supplement such as carbon black. The nanocomposite, which was prepared from P(Py:BPDSA:Py), and SGO show excellent capacity retention (97.2%) even after 2000 cycles.