Fabrication of high-performance symmetric supercapacitor of graphene electrodes by tuning their electrochemical properties

The electrochemical efficiency of a supercapacitor highly depends on the electrochemical properties of electrodes used in its fabrication. Herein, we synthesize highly efficient reduced graphene oxide (rGO) electrodes by tuning the concentration of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a binder through solvent evaporation. The structural, morphological, and electrochemical properties of rGO/PVDF composite electrodes are characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Transmission scanning electron microscopy (TEM), Cyclic voltammetry (CV), Galvanostatic charge-discharge analysis (GCD), and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The rGO/PVDF composite electrodes possess an elliptical-shaped voltammogram with high symmetry, and quasitriangular-shaped GCD curves indicating the ideal supercapacitor characteristic with excellent chargingdischarging stability. The highest specific capacitance of 307 F/g at a scan rate of 100 mV/s and 1080 F/g at a current of 0.1 mA was obtained for the PvG2 electrode. The symmetric electrical double layer (EDLC) supercapacitor fabricated using the PvG2 electrode has an elliptical-shaped voltammogram with high symmetry, which indicates ideal supercapacitor behaviour. The highest power and energy densities gained for the supercapacitors are 2400 W/Kg and 24.1 Wh/Kg at 0.02A and 0.003 A respectively. Furthermore, approximately 78.9 % of capacitance retention and 91.03 % coulombic efficiency were observed for supercapacitors after 5000 cycles.

Automated summary

In this study, highly efficient rGO/PVDF composite electrodes were synthesized by tuning the concentration of PVDF as a binder. The composite electrodes exhibited a symmetric elliptical-shaped voltammogram and quasi-triangular-shaped GCD curves, indicating excellent charging-discharging stability. The fabricated symmetric EDLC supercapacitor using the PvG2 electrode showed ideal supercapacitor behavior with high symmetry. The highest power and energy densities were achieved for the supercapacitors, and a high capacitance retention and coulombic efficiency were observed after 5000 cycles.