Microwave assisted reduction of graphene oxide using multiwalled carbon nanotubes for high performance supercapacitor applications

This study demonstrates a time-efficient, non-hazardous, chemical free, eco-friendly controllable reduction approach to reduce graphene oxide ( GO) and in turn its usage as supercapacitor electrode. The electrochemical charge storage (supercapacitive) performance of the electrode was investigated with 0.3 M Fe3+ + PVA-1M H2SO4 gel electrolyte. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) (with varied wt. percentages) incorporated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) samples were characterized with field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques. Effective surface area, pore volume and pore diameter of the hybrid were determined through Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurement technique. The energy storage performance was evaluated using 0.3M Fe3++ PVA-1M H2SO4 gel electrolyte, which resulted in an impressive specific capacitance of 1326.92 Fg(-1) at 7.5 Ag-1. Symmetric supercapacitor assembled by rGO/MWCNT-5 electrode with 0.3 MFe3+ + PVA-1MH(2)SO(4) electrolyte, has an energy density of 36.56 Wh kg(-1) with power density of 4874.66 Wkg(-1). These observations can pave a new way to fabricate nano-carbons based high capacity energy storage devices.