SrTiO3/CNT/PANI Ternary Composite for Supercapacitor Applications

Energy storage has evolved as a crucial domain demanding urgent attention. Tremendous efforts are on the way for the design and development of charge storage materials with high capacity and rate capability. Supercapacitors are widely regarded as potential energy storage devices due to their high power density, non-toxic nature, safe operation, and long life cycle. As a material with unique structural stability, electronic properties, compositional flexibility and oxygen vacancies, strontium titanate qualifies for supercapacitor applications. The present work reports the fabrication of a ternary composite of SrTiO3 (STO) incorporating conducting polymer polyaniline (PANI) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). XRD, FTIR, and XPS analysis confirmed successful composite formation, while electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed heterojunction formation with efficient charge transfer. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and charge–discharge tests showed the potential of STO/CNT/PANI composite as a promising material for supercapacitor applications. CV plots in a three electrode assembly revealed the pseudo-capacitive nature of the composite, and the specific capacitance was found to be 854 F/g with 1 A/g current density. The charge storage capacity of the composite can be attributed to the synergistic interaction between PANI and carbon materials. Furthermore, the system exhibited reasonable cyclic stability of 71% at 5 A/g current density after 1000 scans. The overall performance of the composite may be traced to the synergistic interaction between PANI and CNT.