One-pot synthesis of hydrazide-pillar[5]arene functionalized reduced graphene oxide for supercapacitor electrode

Abstract

• Hydrazide-pillar[5]arene (HP5A) served as the reducing agent and stabilizer. • RGO-HP5A composite exhibited excellent water dispersibility and few-layer property. • RGO-HP5A 2:3 showed a high initial specific capacitance and great rate capability. • The composite had many binding sites for further optimization. A novel and simple strategy for one-pot preparation of supramolecular reduced graphene oxide (RGO) hybrid material based on pillar[5]arenes was developed by the redox reaction between graphene oxide (GO) and hydrazide-pillar[5]arene (HP5A, as the reducing agent and stabilizer) in aqueous solution. In this process, no additional reducing agents needed to be added, and no extra modification steps were required after reducing GO. The few-layer RGO-HP5A hybrids fabricated could be dispersed in the water easily and stably. When applied to supercapacitors, this nanocomposite showed a remarkable specific capacitance (331 F·g −1 at 0.5 A·g −1 ) and great rate capability in the three-electrode cell, which benefited from synergistic effect of RGO and HP5A in this nanocomposite. Moreover, the as-prepared symmetric supercapacitor with RGO-HP5A exhibited a high initial capacitance as well as an excellent cycling stability. Thus, the study provided a feasible electrode component for fabrication of supercapacitors with outstanding performance and a potential tool for expanding the development of supramolecular composite in energy storage.