Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO) decorated with silver (Ag), copper (Cu) or platinum (Pt) nanoparticles that are anchored on dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA)-doped polyaniline (PANI) were prepared by a simple one-step method and applied as novel materials for high performance supercapacitors. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) analyses revealed that a metal-decorated polymer matrix is embedded within the GO sheet. This caused the M/DBSA–PANI (M = Ag, Cu or Pt) particles to adsorb on the surface of the GO sheets, appearing as aggregated dark regions in the HRSEM images. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy studies revealed that GO was successfully produced and decorated with Ag, Cu or Pt nanoparticles anchored on DBSA–PANI. This was confirmed by the appearance of the GO signature epoxy C–O vibration band at 1040 cm−1 (which decreased upon the introduction of metal nanoparticle) and the PANI characteristic N–H stretching vibration band at 3144 cm−1 present only in the GO/M/DBSA–PANI systems. The composites were tested for their suitability as supercapacitor materials; and specific capacitance values of 206.4, 192.8 and 227.2 F·g−1 were determined for GO/Ag/DBSA–PANI, GO/Cu/DBSA–PANI and GO/Pt/DBSA–PANI, respectively. The GO/Pt/DBSA–PANI electrode exhibited the best specific capacitance value of the three electrodes and also had twice the specific capacitance value reported for Graphene/MnO2//ACN (113.5 F·g−1). This makes GO/Pt/DBSA–PANI a very promising organic supercapacitor material.
Highlights
The world has been facing global warming and energy problems with Earth’s natural resources depleting at a very rapid rate
The main aim of this work was to combine the properties of graphene oxide (GO) with the properties of metal nanoparticles (Ag, Cu, Pt) and dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA)-doped polyaniline (PANI) to enhance the capacitance, energy and power of developed supercapacitor electrodes
Carbon material/conducting polymer/metal oxide nanoparticle composites and carbon material/conducting polymer/metal nanoparticle composites have been used as a new class of composite supercapacitor material with improved properties, when compared to conducting polymer or metal oxide/metal nanoparticle alone
Summary
The world has been facing global warming and energy problems with Earth’s natural resources depleting at a very rapid rate. The high PCE is due to the high and excellent physical properties of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite materials These include a long charge diffusion length and high absorption coefficient in the visible range [7]. Perreault et al, developed a spray-dried mesoporous mixed Cu–Ni oxide and graphene nanocomposite microspheres for high power and durable Li-ion battery anodes. They exhibited unprecedented electrochemical behavior such as high reversible specific capacity, excellent coulombic efficiency and long-term stability at high current density that are very remarkable when compared to most traditional metal oxides and nanocomposites prepared by conventional techniques [9]
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