Synthesis and Electrochemical Studies of rGO/ZnO Nanocomposite for Supercapacitor Application

• Published in: Journal of inorganic and organometallic polymers and materials Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 2046 - 2055
• Main Authors: Jayachandiran, J., Yesuraj, J., Arivanandhan, M., Raja, A., Suthanthiraraj, S. Austin, Jayavel, R., Nedumaran, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystal structure; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Inorganic Chemistry; Nanocomposites; Organic Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Supercapacitors; Synthesis; Ultrasonic testing; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides; rGO/ZnO nanocomposite; Supercapacitor application; ZnO nanoparticles; Energy storage
• ISSN: 1574-1443; 1574-1451
• DOI: 10.1007/s10904-018-0873-0

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) have been widely studied for various applications due to their interesting physicochemical properties. In this work, we have synthesized ZnO and rGO/ZnO nanocomposite as an electrode material for supercapacitor application. A simple and cost effective method called ultrasonic-asisted solution process was used to synthesis rGO/ZnO nanocomposite. The prepared ZnO and rGO/ZnO nanocomposite were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM and confocal Raman. The XRD pattern substantiated the crystal structure of ZnO and formation of nanocomposite. The FESEM and TEM images demonstrate the embillshment of ZnO nanoparticles on the rGO sheets. The Raman analysis validated the hybridisation of nanocomposite. Further, the electrochemical studies of rGO/ZnO nanocomposite exhibited that the composite has the higher specific capacitance (312 F g −1 ) compared to pure ZnO (200 F g −1 ) with better cycling stability up to 1000 cycles. These findings revealed that the prepared rGO/ZnO nanocompositeisa better electrode material for suparcapacitor application. Graphical Abstract