Functionalized Exfoliated Graphene Oxide as Supercapacitor Electrodes

Abstract

Functionalized exfoliated graphene oxide (EGO) for supercapacitor electrodes have been synthesized by simple chemical methods from the exfoliated graphite (EG) as precursor. Structural and morphological characterizations of EGO have been carried out using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Electrochemical performance of these electrodes has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The fabricated supercapacitor gave a specific capacitance of 146 Fg-1 and energy density of 20 Wh·kg-1 for a highly oxidized sample with more functional groups compared to pure, lower level oxidized and reduced samples. The single and multi layered graphene oxide sheets produced by this method have a lower degree of agglomeration. We found that the graphene oxide with functional oxygen groups of quinine type enhances the capacitance compared to other oxygen functional groups.