Abstract
A scanning atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is essential for high-throughput large-area and roll-to-roll processes. In this study, we evaluate scan-mode APPJ for processing reduced graphene oxides (rGOs) that are used as the electrodes of quasi-solid-state gel-electrolyte supercapacitors. rGO nanoflakes are mixed with ethyl cellulose (EC) and terpineol to form pastes for screen-printing. After screen-printing the pastes on carbon cloth, a DC-pulse nitrogen APPJ is used to process the pastes in the scan mode. The maximal temperature attained is ~550 °C with a thermal influence duration of ~10 s per scan. The pastes are scanned by APPJ for 0, 1, 3 and 5 times. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates the reduction of C-O binding content as the number of scan increases, suggesting the oxidation/decomposition of EC. The areal capacitance increases and then decreases as the number of scan increases; the best achieved areal capacitance is 15.93 mF/cm2 with one APPJ scan, in comparison to 4.38 mF/cm2 without APPJ processing. The capacitance retention rate of the supercapacitor with the best performance is ~93% after a 1000-cycle cyclic voltammetry (CV) test. The optimal number of APPJ scans should enable the proper removal of inactive EC and improved wettability while minimizing the damage caused to rGOs by nitrogen APPJ processing.
Highlights
Atmospheric-pressure plasma (APP) is a technology that can be operated at regular pressure without using vacuum pumps and a vacuum chamber; it is considered a cost-effective technology [1,2,3,4].Several techniques have been developed to overcome problems such as high breakdown voltage, continuous arcing and instability, making APPs ready for industrial applications [5,6]
We experimentally investigate reduced graphene oxides (rGOs) supercapacitors fabricated by using a scan-mode DC-pulse nitrogen atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ)
CN emissions can be clearly observed as the APPJ is scanned over the screen-printed pastes, suggesting the reaction between reactive nitrogen species in plasma and carbon-based materials
Summary
Atmospheric-pressure plasma (APP) is a technology that can be operated at regular pressure without using vacuum pumps and a vacuum chamber; it is considered a cost-effective technology [1,2,3,4]. In such APPs, the synergetic effects of reactive species and heat trigger high plasma-chemical reactivity, affording ultrafast materials processing capability [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]. The results of this study confirm the feasibility of one scan APPJ process for supercapacitor fabrication This opens up an opportunity for applying this technology to continuous roll-to-roll processes with higher temperature tolerant flexible substrates such as stainless steel, carbon cloth and willow glass
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