(553i) Rapid Assembly of Mesoporous Electrodes of Polyaniline Nanofibers and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

The design and assembly of nanoscale materials is critical for developing high performance mesoporous electrodes for energy storage devices that can be scale-up for manufacturing. To address this challenge, we have designed a modified layer-by-layer (LbL) nanofabrication technique based on electrostatic self-assembly with vacuum assisted filtration (VF-LbL). Electrostatic interactions with vacuum force allow fabrication of  thick electrodes (4 - 50 microns) of conjugated polyaniline (PANi) nanofibers and oxygen functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) in short timeframes. Controlled thermal treatment of the electrode sample improves the electronic conductivity and mechanical stability that also shows high surface area with interpenetrating networks of polymeric nanofibers and carbon nanotubes. Electrochemical measurements reveal high specific capacity originating from the MWNTs and redox active PANi nanofibers that store charge through double layer charge storage and faradaic mechanism with excellent charge/discharge stability over 10,000 cycles. I will discuss on the strategies to improve the physicochemical properties and scale up of the nanostructured electrodes that could be extended to other nanomaterials for high performance batteries and supercapcitors.