Significant Electrochemical Performance of Zirconia Nanoparticles Decorated with Polyaniline for Next Generation Electrode Materials in Supercapacitor Applications

The supercapacitors have attracted the world as an excellent source for energy storage. Since the last two decades, the screening of supercapacitors has robustly captivated the globe as an outstanding energy storage source. Nevertheless, their stability and excellent capability to store energy are yet to be deemed vulnerable areas that need to be addressed solely. In order to meet the above demands, zirconia nanoparticles are prepared using the sol-gel route. Then, polyaniline/zirconia (PANI/ZrO₂) nanocomposites-based electrode materials are effectively fabricated by integrating zirconia nanoparticles into the PANI matrix through an in-situ polymerization technique. Its XRD patterns disclose well-clear and well-defined peaks while endorsing the existence of the monoclinic phase of ZrO₂ inside the PANI matrix. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals that PANI is distributed evenly among the ZrO₂ nanoparticles in the composites. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are used to explore the supercapacitance of the material. At 1 Ag^{− 1} scan rate, the specific capacitance of PANI/ZrO₂-made nanocomposites is found to be highest for all the samples at 1875.92 Fg^{− 1}. Around 96.8% of the original capacitance of these nanocomposites is noted to be retained after 7500 charge-discharge cycles that display better cyclic stability while declaring them as a fortunate substitute for high-performance supercapacitor applications.