Ultraslim and highly flexible supercapacitor based on chemical vapor deposited nitrogen-doped bernal graphene for wearable electronics

Abstract

Nitrogen-doped Bernal graphene has several advantages, including improved electrical conductivity, enhanced stability and better compatibility with electrolytes. This article presents the synthesis of few-layer pristine graphene and nitrogen-doped Bernal graphene (CVDNG) through the Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition approach and its application for flexible supercapacitors. A novel hot lamination-assisted approach is employed to transfer the graphene on the desired substrates, enabling the reusability of copper. Raman mapping is utilized to analyze the characteristic bands and statistical distribution of Bernal stacking in CVDNG. The doping in graphene is confirmed through the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggesting the content of pyrrolic-N (73.38%), pyridinic-N (20.28%) and graphitic-N (6.38%) in the CVDNG. Cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are performed by sandwiching the polyvinyl alcohol-sodium perchlorate based hydrogel membrane between two symmetrical supercapacitor electrodes. CVDNG symmetrical supercapacitor device delivers an enhanced areal capacitance of 26.75 mF cm−2 with a high energy density of 2.14 mWh cm−2 with a power density of 72 mW cm−2 at 0.05 mA cm−2. The device shows excellent flexibility by retaining 91.1% of its capacitance at extreme bending (180° angle) conditions and excellent specific capacitance retention (90.6%) after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles.