Covalently incorporated heterocyclic benzotriazole-reduced graphene oxide as a High-Performance electrochemical supercapacitor electrode

Abstract

Enhancing supercapacitor energy density while maintaining stability is challenging but crucial for portable electronic devices. Functionalizing graphene can enhance its energy storage properties. Here, we used Senna auriculata flower extract as a green reducing agent for the first-time synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Covalently linked BTA-rGO was synthesized by incorporating benzotriazole (BTA) on the rGO surface. BTA-rGO's electrochemical properties were studied via cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte. BTA-rGO exhibited a high-specific capacitance of 393 × 10−3 F g−1 at 1 A/g, excellent pseudocapacitive performance, a high energy density of 12.5 × 10−4 Wh kg−1, and a high-power density of 251 × 10−3 W kg−1. It retained 96.2 % capacitance over 15,000 cycles at 1 A/g, demonstrating remarkable cycling stability and 1.2 times higher energy density than rGO, underscoring its suitability for energy storage applications.