One-pot synthesis of P-toluidine-reduced graphene oxide/Mn3O4 composite and its electrochemical performance

• Published in: Journal of solid state electrochemistry 2019-06, Vol.23 (6), p.1851-1860
• Main Authors: Chen, Nali, Hu, Daipeng, Wang, Yueyi, Tan, Lin, Zhang, Feifei, Feng, Huixia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Capacitance; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Electrode materials; Energy Storage; Graphene; Manganese oxides; Nanoparticles; Original Paper; Physical Chemistry; Potassium permanganate; Potassium sulfate; Synthesis; Toluidine
• ISSN: 1432-8488; 1433-0768
• DOI: 10.1007/s10008-019-04206-8

In this paper, a promising electrode material for supercapacitor based on P-toluidine-reduced graphene oxide/Mn 3 O 4 (GM) composite was successfully synthesized through a new one-pot synthesis route. To obtain GM composite, graphite oxide (GO) was reduced by P-toluidine first, and then, the resulting reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was hydrothermally treated accompanied with KMnO 4 and K 2 SO 4 . The effect of K 2 SO 4 on the microstructure and electrochemical performance of as-synthesized composites was investigated. At the weight feed ratio of the theoretical amount of Mn 3 O 4 to GO is 13:1, the GM composite prepared with K 2 SO 4 displays a network structure, but under the same conditions, GM composite prepared without K 2 SO 4 presents a different-sized lumps structure closely piled up by Mn 3 O 4 nanoparticles. A specific capacitance of the GM composite prepared with K 2 SO 4 reaches to 331.6 F/g, almost two times higher than that of the composite prepared without K 2 SO 4 . Moreover, the specific capacitance retention of the composite is above 88% after 1000 cycles at 5.0 A/g.