Construction of P-rGO/CNTs@PANI Ternary Composite for Supercapacitors with Balanced Energy-Power Performance

Abstract

This study presents the design of a multi-component composite, P-rGO/CNT@PANI, as supercapacitor electrode. First, a core-shell structured carbon nanotubes@polyaniline (CNT@PANI) was constructed via the in-situ polymerization of aniline on the surface of acidified carbon nanotubes. Subsequently, utilizing phosphoric acid as a multifunctional medium, a one-step hydrothermal method was employed to simultaneously reduce and functionalize graphene oxide (GO) and form a composite together with CNT@PANI. The covalent grafting of phosphate groups onto the reduced graphene oxide (P-rGO) surface effectively inhibited layer restacking while establishing robust interfacial coupling with the PANI chains, thereby forming a conductive interpenetrating network. When the mass ratio of GO to CNT@PANI was set as 1:3, the composite exhibited a specific capacitance of 389.8 F g -1 at 1 A g -1 and approximately 90% capacity retention after 10000 cycles. The symmetric supercapacitor assembled with the as-prepard P-rGO/CNT@PANI achieved an energy density of 21.9 Wh kg -1 and a power density of 500.9 W kg -1 , which was capable of stably powering electronic devices. This research provides a novel strategy for the design of high-performance supercapacitor electrodes.