Poly(ethylene‐thiosuccinate)/carbon allotrope/cubic nickel‐cobalt hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles nanocomposites as supercapacitor materials

Abstract This paper reports the synthesis of poly(ethylene‐thiosuccinate) (PETS) using succinic anhydride and 1,2‐ethanedithiol monomers and investigates its electrochemical behavior as supercapacitor electrode material. The synthesized polymer's structure is designed so that to contain sulfur atoms in the main chain of polymer, as the sulfur containing polymers are among the interesting active compounds for fabricating of novel devices for energy storage with wider voltage window and increase the energy density. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) graphs show the supercapacitor behavior of the materials with the faradic charge storage mechanism. The triangular shape of the charge–discharge curves indicate the reversible performance of the PETS as an electrode material. To enhance the supercapacitive action of PETS, its nanocomposites including PETS/Norit (1:1), PETS/MWCNT (1:1) and PTES/MWCNT (1:1)/(1.5%, 3% and 5%) Ni ₂ CoHCF (nickel‐cobalt hexacyanoferrate) is prepared. The results indicate that the PETS/MWCNT/0.15% Ni ₂ CoHCF nanocomposite exhibits a specific capacity which is 7 times higher than that of the PETS/MWCNT (1:1) nanocomposite, when the current density is 0.05 mA.cm ⁻² . Also, according to the Nyquist diagrams, by incorporating of 1.5% of Ni ₂ CoHCF in the PETS/MWCNT (1:1) nanocomposite, its electrical resistance decreases significantly by about two times. Highlights Poly(ethylene‐thiosuccinate) (PETS) made by succinic anhydride & ethanedithiol PETS/Norit or MWCNT/cubic Ni ₂ CoHCF nanoparticles composites are prepared PETS/MWCNT composites as supercapacitor materials by Faradic storage mechanism PETS/1.5% Ni ₂ CoHCF showed 0.0449 mF.cm ⁻² specific capacity at 0.01 mA.cm ⁻²