Research Article Adv. Mat. Lett. 2014, 5(7), 400-405 ADVANCED MATERIALS Letters Adv. Mat. Lett. 2014, 5(7), 400-405 Copyright © 2014 VBRI press www.amlett.com, www.vbripress.com/aml, DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2014.amwc.1038 Published online by the VBRI press in 2014 Development of nanocomposites based on polypyrrole and carbon nanotubes for supercapacitors Ritu P. Mahore 1 , Devendra K. Burghate 1 , Subhash B. Kondawar 2* 1 Department of Physics, Shri Shivaji Science College, Nagpur 440015, India 2 Department of Physics, Polymer Nanotech Laboratory, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur 440033, India * Corresponding author. Tel: (+91) 712-2042086; E-mail: sbkondawar@yahoo.co.in Received: 08 October 2013, Revised: 30 November 2013 and Accepted: 22 December 2013 ABSTRACT Supercapacitors are recognized as one of the most promising energy storage devices for a wide range of civilian and military applications in electric vehicles, uninterruptible power supplies. Conducting polymer nanocomposites are new functional materials suitable for supercapacitors due to synergistic effect of individual components. In present work, polypyrrole/CNT nanocomposites have been prepared by an in-situ chemical polymerization method and studied for supercapacitor. CNTs were well functionalized using 3:1 ratio of H 2 SO 4 and HNO 3 before polymerizing the pyrrole. Analytical techniques such as SEM, UV-VIS and FTIR were used to characterize the synthesized materials. The SEM images reveal that the materials have rough and granular morphology. The composites showed good interaction based on the shift to longer wavelengths in the electronic transition, indicating the interaction between PPy and functionalized CNTs as observed in their UV-VIS and FTIR spectra. The electrochemical performance was evaluated by using cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 1M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte and specific capacitance was obtained at 0.5 V/s for pure polypyrrole and PPy/CNT nanocomposites. Nanocomposite showed the enhanced electrochemical performance as compared to that of pure polypyrrole. The specific capacitance obtained at the scan rate 0.5V/s was found to be 0.825 F/cm -2 for pure polypyrrole and 1.0619 F/cm -2 for PPy/CNT nanocomposite material respectively, indicates that PPy/CNT nanocomposite is suitable material as electrode for supercapacitor as compoared to pure polypyrrole. Copyright © 2014 VBRI press. Keywords: Supercapacitor; polypyrrole; carbon nanotubes; cyclic voltammetry. Ritu P. Mahore is working as Project Fellow under Major Research Project funded by UGC, New Delhi, in Department of Physics, Shri Shivaji Science College, Nagpur, India. She has obtained her master’s degree in Physics from Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur, India. She has registered for Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. D. K. Burghate and co- supervision of Dr. S. B. Kondawar. Her research interest includes the study of electrochemical performance of ternary conducting polymer nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes for Supercapacitors. Devendra K. Burghate is currently working as Principal in Shri Shivaji Science College, Nagpur, India. He did Ph.D. from Department of Physics, Sant Gadge Baba Amaravati University, Amaravati, India. His main research activities include the study of electrical properties of glasses. His current research is focused on conducting polymer nanocomposites for supercapacitors. He has published more than 30 research articles in journals of international repute. He has completed two research projects funded by UGC, New Delhi (India). Subhash B. Kondawar is currently working as Professor in Department of Physics, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj, Nagpur University, Nagpur, India. He did Ph.D. from Department of Physics, Institute of Science, Nagpur, India. His main research activities include the synthesis of advanced materials at nanoscale and conducting polymer nanocomposites. His current research is focused on fabrication of electrospun nanofibers of conducting polymers and nanocomposites for gas sensors, biosensors and supercapacitors. He has published more than 35 research articles in journals of international repute. He has completed three major research projects funded by UGC, New Delhi (India).