Electrochemical Synthesis of Polyaniline Zinc and Iron Oxide Composites and their Use in Energy Storage Applications

The fabrication of conducting polymers combined with metal oxides presents a promising avenue for the development of hybrid capacitive electrode materials. In this study, we employed a potentiostatic electrochemical polymerization method to in-situ synthesize integrated conductive polyaniline (PN) composites with various cheap and non-toxic metal oxides, including polyaniline zinc oxide (PNZ), polyaniline iron (III) oxide (PNF), and polyaniline zinc ferrite (PNZF). Thorough material characterization was conducted to gain insights into their morphological, structural, and compositional attributes. The synthesized hybrid electrode materials were then investigated for their energy storage capabilities using symmetrical supercapacitors in both two and three-electrode setups, employing cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Notably, the PNZF composite exhibited superior supercapacitive performance, attributed to its porous morphology and uniform distribution of ZnFe2O4 particles. The symmetrical supercapacitor constructed with PNZF demonstrated a high specific capacitance of 791.3 F g-1 at 1.0 A g-1, and a power density of 1058.4 W kg-1, an energy density of 136.4 Wh kg-1, and excellent cyclic stability, retaining 86.1% of its initial capacitance after 4000 cycles. These findings underscore the suitability of PNZF as a hybrid electrode material for supercapacitor applications, based on its outstanding electrochemical performance. Our study offers valuable insights into the structural, optical, and electrochemical properties of PN composites, particularly PNZF.