Effect of hydrothermal reaction time and alkaline conditions on the electrochemical properties of reduced graphene oxide

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide sheets (rGO) were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of aqueous dispersions of graphite oxide (GtO) applied for short (4h) and prolonged reaction times (19–24h). The effect of process duration as well as the alkaline conditions (pH ∼10) by addition of K2CO3 on the quality characteristics of the produced rGO materials was investigated. Both reduction and exfoliation occurred during this process as it was evidenced by FTIR and XRD data. SEM, TEM and HRTEM microscopy displayed highly exfoliated rGO materials. XPS verified that the re-establishment of the conjugated graphene network is more extensive for prolonged times of hydrothermal processing in accordance to Raman spectroscopy measurements. The sample produced under alkaline conditions bore fewer defects and almost 5 times higher BET surface area (∼181m2/g) than the sample with no pH adjustment (∼34m2/g) for the same hydrothermal reaction time (19h), attributed to the developed microporosity. The specific capacitance of this material estimated by electrochemical impedance using three-electrode cell and KCl aqueous solution as an electrolyte was ∼400–500F/g. When EDLC capacitors were fabricated from rGO materials the electrochemical testing in organic electrolyte i.e. TEABF4 in PC, revealed that the shortest hydrothermal reaction time (4h) was more efficient resulting in capacitance around 60F/g.