Synthesis of a novel magnetite/nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as high performance supercapacitor

Abstract

In this research, magnetite/nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (Fe3O4/NRGO) nanocomposites were synthesized through sonochemical route. The morphology and structure of the synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The synthesized nanocomposites display amorphous morphologies, with micro-mesoporous Fe3O4 particles that are uniformly distributed on the NRGO sheets. The electrochemical performance of nanocomposite-based electrodes were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and continues cyclic voltammetry (CCV). The prepared nanocomposite-based electrodes showed superior supercapacitive performance including good rate capability, high specific capacitance, and excellent cyclic performance. The Fe3O4/NRGO nanocomposite electrodes exhibited specific capacitance of 355Fg−1 at scan rate of 2mVs−1 in 0.5M Na2SO4 electrolyte, indicating considerable improvement in supercapacitive performance compared with pristine Fe3O4 and magnetite/reduced graphene oxide (Fe3O4/RGO) electrodes. Moreover, in CCV measurements, excellent capacitance retention (97.1%) was also observed for Fe3O4/NRGO nanocomposite during 4000 continuous potential cycling. Therefore, the prepared nanocomposite has great potential as an electrode materials for supercapacitors.