Ar dielectric barrier discharge jet (DBDjet) plasma treatment of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)–polyaniline (PANI)–chitosan (CS) nanocomposite on carbon cloth for supercapacitor application

Abstract

A low-temperature (< 42 °C) Ar dielectric barrier discharge jet (DBDjet) is used to treat screen-printed reduced graphene oxide (rGO)–polyaniline (PANI)–chitosan (CS) nanocomposites used as the electrodes of gel-electrolyte supercapacitors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate decreased C–O bonding content, suggesting a reaction with some CS, as well as increased C–N and –COOH contents that could be responsible for the improved hydrophilicity and the resulting enhancement in the capacity of the supercapacitor. Galvanostatic charging discharging measurements indicate that Ar DBDjet treatment improves the capacitance by 166%; these results are confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. Our results demonstrate that without substantial heating, Ar DBDjet reactive plasma species alone can improve the hydrophilicity of rGO–PANI–CS nanocomposites on carbon cloth.