A cost-effective and green-reduced graphene oxide/polyurethane foam electrode for electrochemical applications

Three-dimensional graphene foams with interconnected and macroporous structure, high surface area and excellent electrochemical behavior are noticeably used as a substrate for other nanomaterials in electrochemical applications. Herein, a three-dimensional green reduced graphene oxide/polyurethane (3DrGO/PU) foam with a facile and cost-effective synthesis method has been developed. Accordingly, after coating the polyurethane foam by graphene oxide (GO), boiling ascorbic acid (AA) was used for GO reduction. Analytical tools and electrochemical investigations were applied for characterization and evaluation of the electrochemical behavior of the resulted electrode. Acceptable energy density in the range of supercapacitors (0.33 W h kg(-1)) and long-term stability during 1000 electrochemical cycles were observed for the 3DrGO/PU electrode. Finally, it was demonstrated that the gold nanoparticles (with about 300 nm diameter) can be easily electrodeposited on the 3DrGO/PU electrode. This work proposes a simple and green-produced 3D structure, which can be used as a nanohybrid electrode for future studies, including electrochemical sensors/biosensors and supercapacitors.