Synthesis and characterization of "hairy urchin"-like polyaniline by using β-cyclodextrin as a template

Preparation of cyclodextrin polymer-functionalized polyaniline/MXene composites for high-performance supercapacitor

Controlled aggregation is of great significance in designing nanodevices with high electrochemical performance. In this study, an in situ aggregation strategy with cyclodextrin polymer (CDP) was employed to prepare polyaniline (PANI)/MXene (MX) composites. MXene served as a two-dimensional structure template. Due to supramolecular interactions, CDP could be controllably modified with PANI layers, effectively preventing the self-polymerization of PANI. As a result, this integration facilitated a more uniform growth of PANI on MXene and further improved the capacitance performance of CDP-MX/PA. In a three-electrode system, the specific capacitance of MX/PA at 1 A g-1 was 460.8 F g-1, which increased to 523.8 F g-1 after CDP-induced growth. CDP-MX/PA exhibited a high energy density of 27.7 W h kg-1 at a power density of 700 W kg-1. This suggests that the synthetic strategy employed in this study holds promise in providing robust support for the preparation of high-performance energy-storage device.

Electroactive polyaniline/silica hybrid gels: Controllable sol-gel transition adjusted by chitosan derivatives

In this study, the electroactive hybrid gels with controllable sol-gel process were fabricated based on the water soluble polyaniline complex and water soluble silica precursor. β-cyclodextrin grafted on chitosan (CSCD) acted as a template, a new route for the synthesis of water soluble polyaniline complex (PA@CSCD) was designed by in-situ polymerization. Then, the hybrid silica gels without severe shrinkage were prepared by mixing PA@CSCD complex with water soluble precursor (tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)orthosilicates, THEOS). By dynamic rheological measurements, it was found that PA@CSCD complex could trigger and accelerate the sol-gel transition of the silica precursor. The gelation time could be largely shortened with the increase of PA@CSCD complex amount. By SEM observation, the PA@CSCD complex could be well compatible with the silica matrix. Moreover, the hybrid gels showed the good redox electroactivity, which could be successfully applied in a HRP-based biosensor.

pH-Driven self-sorting in a four component host–guest system

A four component host–guest system was found to self-sort only under equimolar and acidic conditions.

Electrochemical properties of a thermally expanded magnetic graphene composite with a conductive polymer

A magnetic graphene composite derived from stage-1 FeCl3-graphite intercalation compounds was thermally treated for up to 75 min at 400 °C or for 2 min at high temperatures up to 900 °C. These heat-treatments of the magnetic graphene composite gave rise to the cubical expansion of graphene with the enlargement of inter-graphene distances. The specific capacitance of the magnetic graphene composite increased upon heating and reached 42 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 5 mV s(-1) in 1.0 M NaCl, after being treated for 2 min at 900 °C. This value corresponds to 840% increase in the capacitance activity superior to that (5 F g(-1)) of the pristine magnetic graphene composite before heat-treatment. This capacitance enhancement can play a significant role in the increase of the surface area that reached 17.2 m(2) g(-1) during the non-defective inter-graphene exfoliation. Moreover, the magnetic graphene composite heated at 900 °C was hybridized with polyaniline by in situ polymerization of aniline to reach a specific capacitance of 253 F g(-1) at 5 mV s(-1). The current procedure of heat-treatment and hybridization with a conductive polymer can be an effective method for attaining a well-expanded magnetic graphene composite possessing an enhanced electrochemical activity with a relatively high energy density (141 W h kg(-1) in 1.0 M NaCl) and an excellent stability (99% after 9000 cycles of 20 A g(-1)).