Preparation and electrochemical properties of sodium-reduced graphene oxide

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2013-09, Vol.24 (9), p.3382-3386
• Main Authors: Ciszewski, Mateusz, Mianowski, Andrzej, Nawrat, Ginter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Aqueous electrolytes; Capacitance; Capacitors. Resistors. Filters; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Dielectric, amorphous and glass solid devices; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrodes; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fullerenes and related materials; diamonds, graphite; Graphene; Graphite; Materials; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Oxides; Physics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Sodium; Specific materials; Various equipment and components
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-013-1259-2

Graphite oxide reduction is probably one of the best technique used to obtain large quantities of few-layer graphene. We developed a new method to produce reduced graphene oxide by using sodium metal as a reducing agent with subsequent dehydration in concentrated sulfuric acid. The resulting product was characterized using various analytical techniques with respect to the oxygen content and species of the residual oxygen-containing groups. The reduced graphene oxide prepared by this method was electrochemically tested as electrode in supercapacitors using two-electrode symmetric system and aqueous electrolyte. The product exhibits improved capacitance during cyclic voltammetry measurements. In comparison to parent graphite oxide specific capacity increased from 0.88 to 28 F/g after 10 cycles at scan rate 20 mV/s and dropped to 19.44 F/g after 100 cycles while at scan rate 5 mV/s specific capacity 46.41 F/g was recorded after first cycle and 39.90 F/g after 50 cycles.