Abstract
The increasing use of technology by the population and the world’s dependence on it has sparked an urgent need for efficient energy storage devices in the past decade. Considering global warming issues, significant progress has been made with batteries, but challenges such as stable cycle life, temperature working range and high cost are still challenging. Supercapacitors have shown their strength with high charge/discharge rate, life cycle stability, and high-power density with low costs of maintenance. However, they lack the provision of high energy density. Nanocomposite complexes have proven their potential as electrode material in pseudocapacitors, providing high specific capacitances and good stability. This study focuses on designing a Bi(III) complex for application as electrode material in pseudocapacitors. The Bi(SCN)3 aniline complex was synthesized using the simple wet chemicals complexation synthesis technique at room temperature conditions. Analysis of the material was performed with techniques such as X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) for phase identification of the nanocomposite and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to obtain chemical bonding. The presence of relevant functional groups confirmed the presence of nanoparticle organic support. The internal morphology was analyzed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) images, which supported the successful fabrication of bismuth nanoparticles supported by an organic species. The supercapacitive behavior of the Bi(III) complex was investigated in 1 M KOH electrolyte and achieved a specific capacitance of 626.4 F.g-1 and excellent stability of 94% retention after 1000 cycles. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies highlighted that the complex exhibits some pseudo-capacitive behavior.
M.Sc. (Chemistry)