A review on fine-tuning of energy storage characteristics of conducting polymers

Abstract

To meet the day by day increasing energy requirements, energy storage devices have been fabricated by using the most relevant synthesis strategies and technologies. The device should be capable of storing a large amount of energy with a light weight package and should distribute the stored energy rapidly during working. Conducting polymers are very attractive candidates for storing charge by rapid oxidation reduction reaction. However, in the pristine form they cannot meet certain requirements of energy storage in practical applications. To solve this problem, they are often made into a composite with many fillers for capacitive energy storage applications. Incorporation of carbon nanostructures into conducting polymeric matrices improves the energy storage characteristics. This review highlights the recent trends and advances in conducting polymer–carbon nanomaterial nanocomposites for energy storage applications. The key factors influencing the energy storage performance have been discussed in detail.