Electro-deposited nano-Ni/reduced graphene oxide composite film of corrugated surface for high voltammetric sensitivity

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate in nanostructured metallic materials to enhance their electrochemical performance. However, few studies exist on the effects of rGO on the crystallographic, physical, and topological properties of co-electrodeposited Ni/rGO nanocomposites. In this study, the morphology and normalized electro-active specific surface (NESS) of a Ni/rGO nanocomposite were correlated with its crystallographic properties by varying the applied co-electrodeposition current density (0.01–0.1 A cm−2) and rGO concentration (0.5–2 mg mL−1). Tuning was done to achieve the best physical and electrochemical properties of the nanocomposite at alkaline (NaOH) conditions in terms of the highest NESS (12.3 × 10−4) and electro-active sensitivity (17.3 μA mM−1 cm−2) possible. The findings of the study show a possible approach to enhance the performance of electro-active components such as electrochemical devices, sensors, and actuators.