The Effect of Thermal Exfoliation Temperature on the Structure and Supercapacitive Performance of Graphene Nanosheets

Abstract

Graphene nanosheets (GSs) were prepared from graphite oxide by thermal exfoliation method. The effect of thermal exfoliation temperature on the structure and supercapacitive performance of GSs has been investigated. The results show that the GSs with pore sizes center around 4.0 nm. With an increase of thermal reduction temperature, the number of stacking layers and the structure disorder degree increase, while the oxygen-containing groups content, BET surface area, and electrical resistivity of GSs decrease. The results indicate that 673 K is the preferable thermal exfoliation temperature to acquire good supercapacitive performance. In this case, the GSs have the best supercapacitive performance (233.1 F g−1) in a 6 mol L−1 KOH electrolyte. The prepared GSs at the preferable thermal exfoliation temperature have good rate performance and cycle stability.