Effect of Graphite Precursor Flake Size on Energy Storage Capabilities of Graphene Oxide Supercapacitors

Abstract

In this research supercapacitors were fabricated using graphene oxide (GO) as the electrode material. GO was synthesized using natural graphite precursor with varying flake sizes. GO was characterized by High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Elemental Analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry was carried out at different scan rates to determine the specific capacitance and energy density of the electrode material. An increase in specific capacitance was seen with an increase in graphite precursor flake size. A specific capacitance and energy density of 204.22 F.g ⁻¹ and 102.11 kJ.kg ⁻¹ respectively at scan rate 10 mV.s ⁻¹ was obtained for the GO sample synthesized from graphite precursor with an average particle size of 0.45 mm. This sample also had the highest specific capacitance for all scan rates.