Electrochemical vs Chemical: The most efficient synthesis method for a new ternary nanocomposite GO/WO3NW/PAni

In this work, we have investigated the efficiency of two different methodologies, chemical and electrochemical, to synthesize a novel ternary nanocomposite based on the combination of graphene oxide (GO), tungsten oxide nanowire (WO3NW) and polyaniline (PAni). In fact, these materials present high superficial area, fast charge/discharge process and stability, which contribute to increase their capacitive properties, making them suitable to be applied as supercapacitors. For this purpose, the previously prepared GO1 and WO3NW2 were employed in the chemical and electrochemical polymerization3, respectively leading to the C-GO/WO3NW/PAni and E-GO/WO3NW/PAni samples, as shown in Figure 1. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the successful synthesis of both nanocomposites, showing the coexistence of the three components. The electrochemical evaluation attested a better electrochemical response for the nanocomposites when compared to the control samples. The capacitive values found, of 0.62 F cm-2 for E-GO/WO3NW/PAni and 0.50 F cm-2 for C-GO/WO3NW/PAni proved the materials to have a promising performance as supercapacitor. Besides, the nanocomposites exhibited high stability, with retention capacitance of about 60% after 1600 cycles. Overall, we described the synthesis of novel ternary nanocomposites through different versatile and environmental friendly routes that allow us to design and modulate the final material according to the capacitive behavior desired.