Hierarchical architecture of PANI@TiO2/Ti3C2Tx ternary composite electrode for enhanced electrochemical performance

• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2017.01.025
• Publication Date: 2017-01-07T02:19:01Z
• Authors: Xiao Lu; Jianfeng Zhu; Wenling Wu; Biao Zhang
• Keywords: Pseudocapacitance; Specific surface area

Abstract A hierarchical structure of PANI@TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x ternary composite for high performance electrochemical capacitors was prepared by a hydrothermal treatment combining with in situ polymerization process. Layered Ti 3 C 2 T x was used as both an active material with large surface area and a framework providing more paths for ion insertion/extraction. The introduction of PANI nanoflakes and TiO 2 nanoparticles can offer an enhanced performance due to their good pseudocapacitance behavior and increased surface area of active materials. The hierarchical PANI@TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x ternary composite exhibits high specific capacitance of 188.3 F g −1 at 10 mV s −1 , which is about twice higher than that of TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x , and 435.4 F cm −2 at 0.5 A g −1 in KOH solution. Furthermore, it also shows remarkable cycle stability, remaining at 94% of the initial value even after 8000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g −1 . The enhanced electrochemical performance can be attributed to the hierarchical architecture and the synergistic effect of combining PANI nanoflakes with TiO 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x composite. This work propels a novel way of using MXene matrix to prepare hierarchical structure composite for next-generation electrochemical capacitors electrode.