High performance supercapacitors based on ternary graphene/Au/polyaniline (PANI) hierarchical nanocomposites

Abstract

A ternary graphene/Au/PANI nanocomposite (GAP) is designed and fabricated via a facile two-step approach: Au nanoparticles dispersed on graphene sheets are achieved by a hydrothermal method, followed by coating with PANI through an in situ polymerization process. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the specific capacitance of the resulting ternary composite is 572 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹ using a three-electrode system, which is significantly higher than that of pure PANI and the binary graphene-PANI composite. In addition, over 88.54% of the initial capacitance can be retained after repeating tests for 10 000 cycles, demonstrating a high cycling stability. The extraordinary electrochemical performance of the ternary GAP nanocomposite is attributed to its well-designed nanostructure and the synergistic effects among individual components.