Studies on organic conducting polymers Incorporated with inorganic Nanomaterials for supercapacitor and Fiber optic gas sensor applications

Abstract

High-performance energy-storage and fiber optic gas sensing devices have attracted significant attention because of the increasing demand for more efficient, environmentally friendly, lightweight, sustainable energy sources and ultra-high sensitivity. Among the energy storage devices, electrochemical supercapacitors based on nanostructured materials set their perspectives and expectations by bridging the gap between batteries and conventional capacitors. In recent years, more interest is shown towards the development of various fiber optic gas sensors due to their significant properties; room temperature operation, lightweight, remote monitoring, safe operation in the explosive or combustive atmosphere. Nanostructures with organic and inorganic materials hold great promise for the development of supercapacitor electrode materials and highly sensitive chemical sensors. This thesis is focused on the synthesis and characterization of conducting polymers namely, polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPy) with inorganic nanomaterials such as prussian blue (PB), TiO2 and ZnO for their potential application as electrode material in supercapacitors with enhanced electrochemical performance and in fiber optic gas sensors which exhibit enhanced sensitivity for toxic gases. newlineThe first chapter discusses the general background of nanotechnology, nanomaterials, and their history, conducting polymer and their types are discussed in the first chapter. Furthermore, the practical applications of conducting polymer materials in fiber optic sensors and supercapacitors are discussed in this chapter. newline