The synthesis of rGO, rGO/RuO2 and rGO/RuO2/PVK nanocomposites, and their supercapacitors

Abstract

In this study, graphene oxide (GO) was eco-friendly and reduced with microwave-assisted method to form reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Two components of nanocomposite of rGO and Ruthenium oxide (RuO2) (rGO/RuO2) and a ternary components of nanocomposite of rGO, RuO2 and polyvinylcarbazole (PVK) (rGO/RuO2/PVK) were synthesized via in-situ polymerization technique. These nanocomposite materials were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated transmission reflectance (FTIR-ATR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), thermal-gravimetric (TGA-DTA) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and BET surface analysis. Supercapacitor device performances were taken by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) used as two electrode configuration. The highest specific capacitance (Csp) was obtained as Csp = 2698 F/g at 2 mV/s for rGO/RuO2/PVK nanocomposite at initial feed ratio of [rGO]o/[RuO2]o/[9-VK]o = 1:1:5. Besides, the highest energy and power density values were obtained as E = 17.711 Wh/kg and P = 2684.36 W/kg for rGO/RuO2 nanocomposite. Ragone plots were drawn to observe energy and power density of supercapacitor devices. Stability tests were examined by CV method for 1000 cycle.