LiClO4-doped plasticized chitosan as biodegradable polymer gel electrolyte for supercapacitors

Abstract

Studies on redox supercapacitors using electronically conducting polymers are of great importance for hybrid power sources and pulse power applications. In this study, electrochemical properties of a chitosan-based biodegradable polymer gel electrolyte (PGE) and a p/p polypyrrole supercapacitor fabricated using this electrolyte have been investigated. The variation of conductivity and dielectric properties of the electrolyte film with temperature has also been measured. The PGE film chosen for the study exhibited a specific conductivity of 5.5 × 10-3 S cm~. The electric modulus of the electrolyte film exhibits a long tail feature indicative of good capacitance. The fabricated supercapacitor showed a fairly good specific capacitance of 120 F g-1 and a time constant of 1 s. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.