Mesoporous graphene-based hybrid nanostructures for capacitive energy storage and photocatalytic applications

Abstract

The development of multi-functional nanomaterials is nowadays more than a necessity to address both energy and environmental needs of our society. In this perspective, the hybridization of graphene (Gr) with TiO2 nanotubes (TiNT) is very promising to meet these issues. In the present work, bi-functional graphene-modified TiO2 nanotubes electrodes (Gr/TiNT) were successfully prepared. A simple and effective approach for graphene production, by electrochemical exfoliation of pure graphite foil in inorganic salt (Na2SO4) is used. Graphene sheets were formed on the surface of TiO2 nanotube arrays through electrodeposition process by chronoamperometry. Mesoporous graphene of high surface area is promising material for photocatalytic applications. Gr/TiNT electrode displays significantly improved photodegradation efficiency to MB, achieving a degradation percentage of 60% in 2 hours, which is about 50% higher than that of TiNT. Moreover, Gr/TiNT with high conductivity demonstrated good capability to deliver extremely high energy and power in a very short period of time, the relaxation time constant was only about 48 ms, which is far lower than that of most conventional activated carbon-based electrochemical capacitors. Capacitance retention of 98% was also demonstrated after 1000 cycles.