Tailoring electrochemical properties of zirconium oxide doped by praseodymium coated with carbon based materials for superior supercapacitors

This research aims to modify metal oxide surfaces using conducting polymers, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and NrGO to improve the conductivity and durability of composites for use in electrochemical energy storage. An uncomplicated sol–gel and in situ technique have been developed to create nanocomposites of NrGO, PANI, and MWCNt with Pr doped ZrO₂ (PrZr) named PrZrG, PrZrP, and PrZrNt, respectively. The scaffolding performance from the galvanostatic charge–discharge analysis conducted in a 2 M KOH solution revealed that the PrZrNt composite attained a significantly higher specific capacitance (933.53 mF /cm²) in comparison to the bare PrZr electrode (522.6 mF/cm²) at 3 mA/cm² with an energy density (ED) of 2.5 Wh/kg at a power density (PD) of 3.6 kW/kg. This result indicates that the PANI incorporation has significantly improved the electrode's pseudocapacitance. In addition, symmetric devices made of PrZrNt nanocomposite with activated carbon as a cathode have been discovered to achieve a specific capacitance of 616.65 mF /cm² at 1 mA/cm² current density.