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Abstract:
Conducting polymer–transition metal hybrid materials are highly promising supercapacitor electrodes. Herein, we report the one-step electrosynthesis of a ternary electrode based on polyaniline (PANI) co-doped with Cu2+ and Co2+ ions. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), elemental composition of the prepared materials were determined. While the crystalline structure and functional groups were identified using diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis demonstrated a distinct morphological shift from the typical fibrous network of pure PANI to a unique microflower structure in the PANI-(Cu-Co). Electrochemical measurements of the PANI-0.1 M (Cu-Co) electrode in 0.5 M HCl exhibit a higher specific capacitance of 610 mF cm⁻2 at 1 mA cm⁻2 current density, significantly higher than pure PANI (209 mF cm⁻2 / 254.21F g⁻1). In line with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed a reduced HOMO-LUMO band gap, indicating better charge transfer. These results demonstrate that adding Cu-Co greatly improves PANI electrochemical performance as well as demonstrating its suitability as an optimized electrodes for advanced supercapacitors.

Keywords:
Polyaniline, Cu–Co doping, Supercapacitors, Hybrid electrodes, Electro polymerization, Density functional theory