Plasma functionalisation of few-layer graphenes and carbon nanotubes for graphene microsupercapacitors

Abstract

Plasma processing, as a commercial and large-scale technology, was used to functionalize few-layer graphene (FLG) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). The successful functionalities of FLG and MWCNT have been confirmed by elemental microanalysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, acid-base titration and zeta potential measurements. With the assistance of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS), a water-dispersible and conductive polymer, a composite of functionalized FLG and MWCNT was fabricated into large-size flexible films and also interdigitated microelectrodes for microsupercapacitor application via simple and scalable techniques (i.e. doctor blading and laser-etching). When normalised by volume and area, the devices made from FLG(NH3)-MWCNT(Acid) (19.9 F cm−3 at 5 mV s−1 and 12.2 F cm−3 at 200 mV s−1) and FLG-MWCNT(Acid) (19.5 mF cm−2 at 5 mV s−1 and 12.8 mF cm−2 at 200 mV s−1) show the best performing composites, respectively, indicating how effective functionalization of FLG and MWCNT is for the enhancement of electrochemical capacitance. In-situ Raman microscopy confirmed the reversible pseudo-capacitive behaviour of electrode materials and the stable electrochemical performance of the devices. The facile techniques used in this work and the good device performances show their great potential for wearable applications.