Polyaniline-functionalized jute fiber as a sustainable electrode for high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract

A polyaniline (PANI)-modified jute fiber (JF) composite was developed as a low-cost, biodegradable, and high-performance electrode material for supercapacitors. Jute fiber, an abundant natural resource, served as a renewable scaffold for PANI through a simple chemical polymerization process. Composites with varying PANI-to-JF ratios, denoted as PANI/JF-1 to PANI/JF-4, were prepared, among which PANI/JF-3 exhibited the best electrochemical performance. It delivered a high specific capacitance of 3860 ± 204 F g⁻¹ at 10 mV s⁻¹ (cyclic voltammetry) and 3485 ± 111 F g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹ (galvanostatic charge–discharge), while retaining 3052 ± 119 F g⁻¹ at 50 A g⁻¹, indicating excellent rate capability. The composite achieved a power density of 1692.54 W kg⁻¹ at an energy density of 207.72 W h kg⁻¹ and maintained 82.27% of its initial capacitance after 3000 charge–discharge cycles at 30 A g⁻¹, demonstrating good cycling stability. FT-IR and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed strong interfacial hydrogen bonding between PANI and the cellulose framework, which facilitates charge transfer and increases the effective electrochemically active surface area. These results identify the PANI/JF composite as a scalable bio-based electrode material for high-performance electrochemical energy storage.