Supercapacitor electrodes based on nano-polyaniline deposited on hollow carbon spheres derived from cross-linked co-polymers

Nano-polyaniline (nano-PANI) was deposited on hollow carbon spheres (HCS) to prepare nano-PANI/HCS composites via in-situ chemical polymerization. The composites combined the high pseudocapacitance of nano-PANI and the excellent porous structure of HCS which were prepared by the carbonization of a cross-linked co-polymer, poly(styrene- co -divinylbenzene- co -methylacrylic acid). The structure and properties of the resulting composites were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nitrogen (N 2 ) adsorption measurements, and the electrochemical behaviors were examined in 1   M H 2 SO 4 aqueous solution. Morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transition electron microscopy (TEM). SEM and FTIR characterizations reveal that nano-PANI was successfully deposited on the surface of HCS; and electrochemical tests indicated that the nano-PANI/HCS composites exhibited a high specific capacitance of 435.0   F   g −1 , along with good long-term cyclic stability (≈60% retention after 2000 cycles).