Enhanced electrochemical performance of a polyaniline-based supercapacitor by a bicontinuous microemulsion nanoreactor approach

Polyaniline (PANI)-based supercapacitors suffer from environmental and mechanical instabilities. In this work, a novel bicontinuous microemulsion approach was developed to fabricate a unique nanofibre structure of polyaniline and its 3D-crosslinked network using crosslinking chemistry, which improved both the mechanical and electrochemical performance of a PANI-based supercapacitor. The polyaniline nanofibers and its 3D-crosslinked networks produced by bicontinuous nanoreactors were investigated using experimental tools, such as SEM, FTIR, BET, TGA and DSC. Electrochemical evaluations for the above polyaniline nanofibers and its 3D-crosslinked materials was performed via cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements. The result of this study demonstrated that the PANI nanofiber exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 280.4 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹, while both PANI-based supercapacitors made of nanofibers and 3D-crosslinked materials retained good cycling stability of 98% during continuous redox cycling.