Thiourea modulated supercapacitive behavior of reduced graphene oxide

Abstract

In this report, we investigated the role of the concentration of nitrogen and sulfur containing thiourea in modulating the electrochemical properties of reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) by controlling the percentage of heteroatoms on the rGO surface. The synthesis route involved the preparation of Graphene Oxide (GO) using an improved method of synthesis in an economical way by reducing the volume of concentrated acids used. Furthermore, GO is reduced by using different mass proportions of thiourea via a simple reflux method. Characterization of the rGO samples by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDAX) and elemental analysis through CHNS analyzer exhibited successful doping and impact of nitrogen and sulfur atoms on the graphene framework. The comparative electrochemical performance from Cyclic Voltammograms (CV), Galvanostatic Charge Discharge (GCD) profiles and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements on the various rGO samples revealed the superiority of 1:8rGO having 15.190 wt% of nitrogen and 26.849 wt% of sulfur and S/N ratio of 1.768, in delivering highest specific capacitance of 465.21 F·g−1 at 1 mV·s−1 scan rate with a remarkable cyclic stability exhibiting a capacitive retention of 119 % and offering lowest charge transfer resistance and diffusion resistance. The study also demonstrated detrimental effect of excess thiourea on electrochemical properties of rGO. This work suggests an effective and simple approach for optimizing the nitrogen and sulfur content in rGO to enhance its electronic properties using thiourea.