High performance 2D micro-supercapacitor electrode composed of graphene with polydopamine as inserts
Résumé
Over the last years, graphene is deemed as one of the most promising electrode materials for EDLCs
due to its large specific surface area (2600 m2·g-1), high theoretical specific capacitance (550 F·g-1) and high
conductivity1.
Among all the reported approaches to achieve a graphene-like material, the most favorable route is the
reduction of GO and notably the electrochemical reduction of GO that is viewed as an economic, simple, fast
and eco-friendly method with production possibility at a relatively large scale2-3. However, reduced graphene
oxide (rGO) suffers from the small surface area due to the partial re-stacking of graphene sheets through π−π
interactions4. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an effective and feasible route to avoid rGO re-stacking to
obtain graphene-based electrodes with a high specific capacitance and a good stability.
Herein, we report graphene-PDA composites as electrodes for micro-supercapacitor devices fabricated
by a facile electrochemical approach5. We particularly address the rGO re-stacking issue by exploiting the PDA
as a “chemical insert” between the graphene sheets but also explore the impact of PDA on the interfacial charge
storage properties and the cycling performance. The optimized ERGO-PDA electrode possesses combined
features of excellent capacitive behavior: high gravimetric and volumetric capacitances (178 F·g-1 and 297 F·cm-
3, respectively, at 10 mV·s-1) with an excellent cycling stability (Figure 1: 107 % of capacitance retention after
10000 cycles at a scan rate of 1000 mV·s-1). Additionally, the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance
analyses demonstrate a dominant cationic charge compensation and a very efficient interfacial transfer
characteristics in the presence of PDA, since a totally reversible mass response during charge/discharge was
observed for the optimized ERGO-PDA electrode. Here the favourable impact of PDA is shown to tackle rGO
restacking issue, shedding light on the design of graphene based composite electrodes and can also be
extended to other 2D materials for high performance electrochemical energy storage electrodes.
References
(1) Tan, Y. B.; Lee, J.-M. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2013, 1 (47), 14814-14843
(2) Gao, W.; Debiemme-Chouvy, C.; Lahcini, M.; Perrot, H.; Sel, O. Analytical Chemistry 2019, 91 (4), 2885-2893.
(3) Guo, H.-L.; Wang, X.-F.; Qian, Q.-Y.; Wang, F.-B.; Xia, X.-H. ACS Nano 2009, 3 (9), 2653-2659
(4) Banda, H.; Périé, S.; Daffos, B.; Taberna, P.-L.; Dubois, L.; Crosnier, O.; Simon, P.; Lee, D.; De Paëpe, G.;
Duclairoir, F., ACS Nano 2019, 13 (2), 1443-1453
(5) Bouzina, A.; Perrot, H.; Sel, O.; Debiemme-Chouvy, C. ACS Applied Nano Materials 2021, 4 (5), 4964–4973