Synthesis and characterization of copper particles decorated reduced graphene oxide nano composites for the application of supercapacitors

Abstract

Materials which are based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and metal oxide nanoparticles acquire superior properties for energy storage device applications. As the base structure of all graphitic forms, graphene is the building block for carbon materials of all other dimensionalities, such as 0D fullerene, 1D nanotube and 3D graphite. Copper nanoparticles pays great interest due to its high natural abundance, low cost and the wide application in chemical industries and energy processes. Graphene sheets can be decorated with copper to form copper decorated graphene oxide nano composites and these composites can offer unexceptional characteristics for providing enhancement of the electronic properties. Here, we report the synthesis of Cu nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (Cu-rGO) by a commonly used strategy to prepare highly-dispersed NPs on the graphene sheets. Graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized from graphite flakes by an improved version of Hummer’s method. Highly dispersed copper nanoparticles anchoring on rGO sheets are achieved by ethylene glycol (EG) reduction method. The synthesized samples were characterized by relevant characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (Crystallographic phase and structure), scanning electronic microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (crystal structure, morphology, elemental mapping etc.) and FT-IR (Identification of functional groups). The results indicated that Cu nanoparticles (Cu NPs) are well distributed on rGO nano sheets with an average diameter of 8.9 nm. The super capacitive behavior of the Cu-rGO nano composites is under progress to optimize the results.