Polymer Bulletin, Vol.76, No.4, 1949-1965, 2019
Supercapacitor based on in situ chemical synthesis of polypyrrole on rubber substrate: preparation and characterization
A supercapacitor based on nitrile butadiene rubber substrate (NBR) and polypyrrole (PPy) was developed in this work. PPy was deposited on the surface of the substrate, NBR, which acts as a solid electrolyte in a sandwich arrangement, using a simple and fast in situ chemical synthesis, employing copper(II) perchlorate. The system was characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. The electrochemical behavior was studied using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and galvanostatic discharge techniques. The swelling preparation method allows obtaining a suitable adhesion between the PPy and the elastomeric matrix, rendering a flexible hybrid platform for storage-energy applications. The system shows a near-reversible electrochemical behavior and specific capacitance value as high as 198.24Fg(-1), reached at lower scan rates. This makes the sandwich arrangement PPy/NBR/PPy a promising system for versatile designs of supercapacitor devices.