Polyaniline benefited from poly(vinyl alcohol) in both conductivity and energy storage

Polyaniline (PANI) is an important conductive polymer because of its wide potential. In this article, we present a modified chemical polymerization method, which employs poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a doping assistant, for the synthesis of PANI. In this study, the introduced PVA contributed both to the conductivity and specific capacitance. The conductivity markedly increased more than two orders of magnitude from 5.2 to 1052 S/m after a small amount of PVA was introduced. A combination of the amphoteric polymer and acid together as the dopant extended the doping method for the synthesis of conductive PANI. The specific capacitance of PANI occurred up to 382.9 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g. The PANIs exhibited fast redox reactions, good ion response, and a short diffusion path of electronic transport. By feat of the hydrophilicity of PVA, the as-prepared PANI showed a good dispersibility in aqueous solution; this is important for its potential applications.