Synthesis and physico-chemical property evaluation of PANI–NiFe2O4 nanocomposite as electrodes for supercapacitors

Abstract Nanosized PANI–NiFe2O4 composites were prepared by in situ-chemical oxidative polymerization method, whereas NiFe2O4 was synthesized by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) technique. Structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of NiFe2O4, PANI and PANI–NiFe2O4 composites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, TGA, SEM, TEM, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge–discharge techniques. The crystalline nature of NiFe2O4 and PANI–NiFe2O4 composites was elucidated by X-ray diffraction. FT-IR spectra inferred the polymerization of aniline and revealed the corresponding functional groups of PANI. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge experiments were carried out to study the electrochemical capacitive properties. The PANI–NiFe2O4 composites (NP1, NP2 and NP3) exhibited enhanced capacitive performance due to the increase in conducting network of PANI. The composite NP1 was provided higher SC of 448 F/g compared to PANI (292 F/g) and other PANI–NiFe2O4 composites. For the sample NP1, maximum energy density of 50.4 Wh/kg was observed at a current density of 1 mA/cm2. Above 80% of capacitance was maintained after 1000 cycles at a higher current density of 10 mA/cm2. Hence, the prepared PANI–NiFe2O4 composites can be used as suitable electrode materials for redox supercapacitors.