Polypyrrole Modified Carbon Nanotube/Polyimide Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors and Lithium-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries have evolved and transcended in recent years to power every device across the spectrum, from watches to electrical vehicles and beyond. However, the lithium-ion battery requires the use of heavy and expensive transition metal oxides that have limited life cycles. Conductive polymer nanocomposites have been shown to possess good electrochemical and thermomechanical properties and are considered to be effective alternatives to transition metal oxides. The fabrication and properties of polyimide matrix-single wall carbon nanotube, SWCNT composite electrode materials, modified by the electrodeposition of polypyrrole, PPy was successfully carried out. The doping of PPy with p-Toluene sulfonic acid, T resulted in a dramatic transformation of the morphology and specific capacitance of the electrode material. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, EIS, cyclic voltammetry, CV, and galvanic charge–discharge tests were used to measure the electrode’s specific capacitance and specific capacity. Maximum specific capacitance values of up to 84.88 F/g and 127.13 F/g were obtained by CV and charge–discharge tests, respectively. A capacitance retention of over 80% was obtained after over 500 cycles of testing. The insertion of doped PPy into the electrode material by electrochemical polymerization was shown to positively correlate to the improved electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite. An increase in the porosity of about 34.68% over the non-doped polypyrrole was obtained from EIS measurement and supported by the optical microscope pictures. Increasing the process parameters, such as pyrrole, Py concentration and the amount of dopants, lead to a dramatic increase in the specific capacitance and capacity of the composite electrodes.