Fe3O4/carbon nanotubes/polyaniline ternary composites with synergistic effects for high performance supercapacitors

Abstract

This work studied the pseudocapacitive behavior of Fe₃O₄ and examined approaches to improve its electrochemical activity. Our results show that by optimizing the electrode architectures, we were able to construct ternary Fe₃O₄/CNTs/PANI composites that delivered excellent electroactivity and cyclic stability because of synergistic effects from each component. In this composite, CNTs were uniformly coated on the surface of Fe₃O₄ particles and were able to form conductive networks that electrically wired each particle, whereas PANI particles were able to bridge Fe₃O₄/CNTs composites and further ensure the overall mechanical integrity. Overall, with 8 wt% of PANI the electrodes were able to deliver a high specific capacitance of 260 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹. The electrodes also had excellent cyclic stability and showed only 6% decay capacity after 1000 cycles.