Polyaniline and rare earth metal oxide composition: A distinctive design approach for supercapacitor

Highlights: ØPolyaniline and a rare earth metal oxide were used for the composition of hybrid supercapacitor electrode. ØIn-situ chemical oxidation polymerization method was implied to synthesize. ØMaterial and electrochemical characterization were carried out to validate the material and the electrode efficiency. ØThe supercapacitor showed the improved specific capacitance and energy density. -- Abstract: The paper outlined through a comparative study on the electrode envisaged for the supercapacitor application prepared with polyaniline (PANI) and rare earth metal oxides (La₂O₃), with the hypothesis of achieving high specific capacitance, high strength, and high energy density. The characterization of samples was permitted differently by using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDS), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV–vis spectra), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS spectra). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS), and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) tests were performed to measure the electrochemical efficiency. PANI/La composite electrode exhibits a higher effective capacitance of 718 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mVs⁻¹ at 1.0 M H₂SO₄ with a specific energy of 53.8 Wh/Kg at a current density of 1.0 A/g. The electrode has good power retention over 10,000 GCD cycles at a current density of 10 A/g. A well-capacitive supercapacitor electrode implies the better capacitance of the PANI/La electrode at a high mass loading.