Proceedings of International Conference on Applied Innovation in IT
2026/03/31, Volume 14, Issue 1, pp.741-748

Electrochemical Analysis of PVA/PANI/Activated Carbon Nanocomposites for Energy Storage


Ali A. Sallal and Sabah A. Salman


Abstract: The main objective of this study was to investigate the electrochemical performance of polyaniline (PANI) integrated with activated carbon (AC) derived from orange peels. The core goal was to develop a low-cost, energy-storing material from agricultural waste. Activated carbon was incorporated to enhance the pseudocapacitance and cycle stability of PANI. XRD analysis showed PANI as a highly crystalline material, while AC exhibited broad peaks, indicating a semicrystalline and highly amorphous nature. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the successful synthesis of PANI (evidenced by active quinonoid and polaron structures, specifically the 1589 cm-1 band). AC displayed prominent D and G bands, confirming its amorphous, defective structure with an underlying graphitic system (suggested by the ID/IG ratio). Composite materials (CMs) were synthesized using porous AC obtained from carbonized orange peels and PANI. A symmetric supercapacitor cell was fabricated using PVA/PANI/AC nanocomposite films as the electrode, and its electrochemical performance was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) techniques. The CV curves of the PVA/PANI/AC nanocomposite film showed clearly defined anodic and cathodic peaks, demonstrating excellent redox activity critical for energy storage applications. Crucially, the addition of AC significantly increased the current density and the area under the CV curve compared to the pure PVA film, pointing to a substantial improvement in charge storage capacity. The PVA/PANI/AC nanocomposite achieved a maximum specific capacitance of 80.50 F/g (for sample PPC4), which is notably higher than that of the pure PVA film (55.59 F/g). In conclusion, the successful integration of PANI and AC within a PVA matrix created a composite material that benefits from the polymer's high faradic activity and AC's strong contribution to charge storage. Furthermore, the porous structure enhances ion transport dynamics, positioning this low-cost, waste-derived material as highly promising for supercapacitor applications.

Keywords: Activated Carbon, Composite Materials, Polyaniline, Orange Peel, Supercapacitor, Electrochemical Properties, Cyclic Voltammetry, Galvanostatic Charge-Discharge.

DOI: Under indexing

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