Rechargeable thin film batteries of polypyrrole and polyaniline

Abstract

Thin films of polypyrrole (PPy) and polyaniline (PANi) were electrochemically deposited on stainless steel substrate under potentiostatic control. Secondary batteries were assembled using these polymers as active electrode materials and propylene carbonate (PC) solutions of tetraethyl ammonium perchlorate (TEAP) as the electrolyte. In repeated charge and discharge tests, the all PANi cells performed better than the PPy-PANi cells in voltage characteristics, recyclability, charge retention and coulombic efficiency. There appears to be an optimum charging current for the polymer cells and charging the cells at rates notably different from the optimum value reduced the cell performance substantially. It is suggested that the cells operate under kinetic control and charging at extreme rates either reduces the participation of polymer redox in the overall cell operation or produces mass transfer limitations. © 1992 Chapman & Hall.