Assembly of ordered polyaniline-graphene hybrid nanomaterials based on poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid) functionalized graphene nanosheets

Nanostructure of ordered polyaniline-graphene (PANI-rGO PMAS ) hybrid nanomaterials is assembled based on poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid) (PMAS) functionalized reduced graphene oxide (rGO PMAS ) nanosheets. The presence of PMAS not only improves dispersibility of reduced graphene oxide nanosheets, but also plays a key role for heterogeneous nucleation of polyaniline (PANI) nanorods . The formation mechanism of ordered PANI-rGO PMAS hybrid nanomaterials was studied in details by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV–vis). The conductivity of PANI-rGO PMAS hybrid with 17   wt% rGO PMAS is as high as 4480   S/m, compared with 2.93   S/m for pure PANI. The cyclic voltammetry tests indicate that, PANI-rGO PMAS containing 2   wt% rGO PMAS possesses fast response to redox reactions and excellent reversible stability. It has a high specific capacitance of 385   F   g −1 at the scan rate of 10   mV   s −1 with potential ranges from −0.2 to 0.8   V. This ordered polyaniline-graphene hybrid has potential applications for flexible supercapacitors, sensors, batteries, electromagnetic materials and thermoelectric materials, etc.