Comparative electrochemical properties of MO (ZrO₂, V₂O₅) based polyaniline nanocomposites for high-performance supercapacitor applications

Abstract Due to its distinctive qualities, such as its moderate energy density, extended service life, rapid discharge–charge rates, and superior safety, supercapacitors (SCs) are gaining more and more attention. A zirconium oxide ZrO 2 (Zr) and vanadium oxide V 2 O 5 (VO) based PANI nanocomposites, denoted as (ZrP for ZrO 2 /PANI, and VOP for V 2 O 5 /PANI) are fabricated using hydrothermal technique in this research work. Morphological and phase investigations validated the random particle shapes with good crystallinity and purity of the samples. The N 2 sorption/desorption isotherm reveals a mesoporous feature of the electrodes and the highest BET surface area (36.5 m 2 /g) with large electroactive sites, which offers abundant faradaic reactions for charge storage. The I-V characteristics confirm their excellent conduction capabilities as well. When utilized as electrodes for SCs in the three-electrode setup, the VOP composite electrode attains the highest capacitance of 1372 F g −1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s −1 compared with other active electrodes. Besides that, the VOP electrodes offer superior cyclic stability, with a retention rate of 94.28% even after 7000 consecutive charge/discharge cycles. It has been discovered that the in two electrode VOP asymmetric device exhibited remarkable specific capacitance of 651.36 Fg −1 at 5 mV s −1 demonstrating a significant capacitance retention of 87.6% over 6000 cycles. The results suggest that the material could be a good contender for electrode materials in supercapacitors.