Conducting Polymer Nanocomposites for Supercapacitors

Book excerpt: Supercapacitors have drawn intensive attention owing to their virtues of high power density, long cycle life, short charging time and safe operation for promising applications to resolve problems of limited global energy supply and environmental problems. Supercapacitors are designed to bridge the gap between batteries and capacitors, to form fast charging energy-storage devices of intermediate specific energy. The supercapacitor is an important device in the energy storage and conversion systems, and is used in different applications such as in electric vehicles, uninterruptible power supplies, memory protection of computer electronics and cellular devices.This book serves as a guide in understanding the basics of conducting polymer technology, nanostructurisation of conducting polymers and their composites emerging as a new field of research and development, directed to the creation of new smart materials, especially for supercapacitors.The concepts of supercapacitors are well explained in simple and concise form to avoid the confusion of students and academic professionals. The book has chemical engineering orientation and therefore, professionals from the polymer science field may find this book most suitable for their advanced and applied field of research. It will provide them an opportunity to learn about conducting polymers and nanocomposites, and their production and processing technology for supercapacitors. Although the attention is mainly focused on preparation of conducting polymer based binary and ternary nanocomposites and their electrochemical performances for supercapacitor application, this book will be a valuable reference for scientists, engineers, students and general readers who are interested in the investigation and exploitation of the fascinating new class of conducting polymer nanocomposites.