Abstract
Graphene is a highly studied material due to its unique electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. Graphene is widely applied in the field of energy such as in batteries, supercapacitors, and solar cells. The properties of graphene can be further improved by making nanocomposites with conducting polymers. In this work, graphene oxide nanoribbons (GONRs) were synthesized by unzipping multiwall carbon nanotubes. Graphene nanoribbons were used to make nanocomposites with polypyrrole for energy storage applications. The synthesized nanocomposites were structurally and electrochemically characterized to understand their structure and electrochemical properties. The electrochemical characterizations of these nanocomposites were carried out using cyclic voltammetry. The specific capacitance of the nanocomposites was observed to decrease with increasing scan rates. The highest specific capacitance of 2066 F/g was observed using cyclic voltammetry for the optimized nanocomposite of GONR and polypyrrole. Our study suggests that the electrochemical properties of graphene or polypyrrole can be improved by making their composites and that they could be successfully used as electrode materials for energy storage applications. This study can also be extended to the self-assembly of other conducting polymers and graphene nanoribbons through a simple route for various other applications.
Highlights
IntroductionThe fast growth of the global economy, a constant diminution of fossil fuels, and increased pollution in the environment have led to an ever-increasing demand for clean energy [1,2]
In recent decades, the fast growth of the global economy, a constant diminution of fossil fuels, and increased pollution in the environment have led to an ever-increasing demand for clean energy [1,2].For the storage and conversion of electrochemical energy, supercapacitors are a preferable choice because of their high power capacity, low cost, environmental friendliness, and long cycle life [3,4]
Graphene nanoribbons were synthesized by unzipping Multiwall CNTs (MWCNTs)
Summary
The fast growth of the global economy, a constant diminution of fossil fuels, and increased pollution in the environment have led to an ever-increasing demand for clean energy [1,2]. Their electronic properties have a diverse range, including normal semiconductors to spin-polarized half metals, and they have the potential of opening GONRs as electric devices [7,8,9] Other materials, such as conducting polymers (CPs), are promising candidates for supercapacitors because of their low cost, higher capacity to store charges, and facile synthesis. Polypyrrole is used in making composites with carbon-based materials [17] In this condition, combining conducting polymers with the carbon material could be a suitable plan and method to gain an ideal capacitive characteristic and for application in energy storage devices. We synthesized graphene nanoribbons by unzipping carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons/polypyrrole composites to study the effect of composition on the structural and electrochemical properties for energy applications. It was observed that the electrochemical properties of the nanocomposite were significantly higher than their counterparts
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