Development of a polyaniline/CMK-3/hydroquinone composite supercapacitor system

Hybrid supercapacitors are important in energy storage modules owing to their high power density. High-power electrical double-layer capacitor (EDLC) materials are frequently used to host faradaic capacitance materials to maintain a high power density with improved energy density. Herein, a hybrid electrode was developed using ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) as EDLC material and conductive polymer polyaniline (PANi) as faradaic capacitance material. The processing parameters and the synergistic effect of CMK-3 and PANi were determined. Hydroquinone (HQ) was added through charge–discharge in the electrolyte, and its concentration was optimized. The specific capacitance of the PANi/CMK-3/HQ composite system was 684 F/g, whereas those of the PANi/CMK-3 composite, pristine PANi, and CMK3 were 480, 135, and 101 F/g, respectively. The PANi/CMK-3/HQ composite system exhibited excellent cyclic stability, maintaining capacitance retention of 95.45% after 1000 charge–discharge cycles. Finally, the practical applicability of our proposed PANi/CMK-3/HQ composite system was proved with series connected symmetric supercapacitor by powering up the light emitting diodes (LEDs) bulbs for 10 min. The proposed PANi/CMK-3/HQ electrode provides a new route for future supercapacitor design and development.