Solvothermally synthesized nanoporous hypercrosslinked polyaniline: studies of the gas sorption and charge storage behavior

Abstract

A facile solvothermal method has been developed for the synthesis of high surface area nanoporous hypercrosslinked polyaniline (HCPANISs). A series of samples have been prepared by varying the hypercrosslinker content and reaction temperature. The maximum specific surface area (SA_BET) of 711 m² g⁻¹ with the pore size distribution centered at 0.64 nm was measured for the sample synthesized with 1 mL diiodomethane (hypercrosslinker) at 160 °C (HCPANIS-1 mL-160 °C). This specimen further exhibited a CO₂ and CH₄ uptake of 14.7 and 1.8 wt%, respectively, at 0 °C and 1 bar. It also showed the H₂ storage capacity of 1.18 wt% at −196 °C and 1 bar. HCPANIS-1 mL-160 °C was further investigated for electrochemical supercapacitor applications. The maximum specific capacitance calculated was 580 F g⁻¹ at a scan rate of 3 mV s⁻¹ with 68% retention capacity over 10 000 cycles at a current density of 10 A g⁻¹.