Synthesis and Characterization of Aramid Fiber-Reinforced Polyimide/Carbon Black Composites and Their Use in a Supercapacitor.

The aramid fabric ( AF)-reinforced polyimide ( PI) composites filled with carbon black ( CB) were fabricated by means of a thermal imidization and their mechanical, thermal and electrochemical behaviors were comparatively investigated. Experimental results showed that the tensile strength of composite increased with an increase of the CB, meanwhile, the addition of 5 wt% CB and AF increased the tensile modulus to 5682.0 MPa. The superior mechanical properties of the composites were attributed to the good dispersion and effective stress transfer between the polymer and CB, as evidenced by the results from X-ray diffraction ( XRD) and morphological studies. Besides, the thermal-nonoxidative stability of PI was significantly improved by the incorporation of CB and AF. Furthermore, the CB/ AF/ PI composite was employed as the supercapacitor electrode in the 6 mol/L KOH aqueous electrolyte solution, which exhibited a specific capacitance of 510 F•g−1 at 10 mV•s−1. It also exhibited excellent long-term stability, and the energy density was stable with the increase in the power density. The super performance of the composite electrode is attributed to the synergistic effects of CB particles and organic polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]