Graphene and Its Derivatives for Supercapacitor Application

Abstract

The intensive research effort is currently concentrated on the development of sustainable, reliable, environmental decontamination against electrochemical energy storage systems due to the increasing demand for energy storage requirements. Lithium (Li) ion cells and batteries have been invented for ordinary energy storage devices in the past five decades. However, Li-ion cells have some severe drawbacks such as fast aging, safety issues, sensitive flight transportation, immature technology, and costly. In this context, supercapacitor (SCAP) is designed and established to store rapidly and release large amounts of electricity in a concise period. Still, SCAP performance is a hindrance from relatively low specific energy compared with Li-ion battery. In the sense, the most widely used of both electrodes and separators were carbon and activated charcoal, respectively. The charge carriers are comparable in size to the pores for these porous materials and led to inadequate electrostatic/storage capacity. Thus, two-dimensional (2D) graphene-based structural material is one of the great candidates for various components of the SCAP (i.e. electrodes and separators). Graphene features extremely porous, outstanding energy density, superior electric conductivity, and great pore size distribution as well as high relative surface area for electrostatic charge storage as compared with other carbon materials. In this article, the fundamental of graphene and its composite reinforced SCAP will be described briefly. Comprehensively, the synthesis and charge mechanism of nanostructured graphene for entire ions storage systems will also be illustrated. Last but not least, the utilization of graphene for SCAP application and its prospect will also be addressed.