Sandwich construction of chitosan/reduced graphene oxide composite as additive-free electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors

Mingming Gao; Lu Wang; Baozheng Zhao; Xinglong Gu; Tong Li; Lang Huang; Qiong Wu; Shitao Yu; Shiwei Liu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117397

Sandwich construction of chitosan/reduced graphene oxide composite as additive-free electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Mar 1:255:117397. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117397. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Authors

Mingming Gao¹, Lu Wang¹, Baozheng Zhao¹, Xinglong Gu¹, Tong Li¹, Lang Huang², Qiong Wu³, Shitao Yu⁴, Shiwei Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 53 Zhengzhou Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266042, PR China.
² Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 189 Songling Road, Qingdao, 266101, PR China.
³ State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 53 Zhengzhou Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266042, PR China. Electronic address: wuqiong0506@hotmail.com.
⁴ State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 53 Zhengzhou Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266042, PR China. Electronic address: yushitaoqust@126.com.

PMID: 33436225
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117397

Abstract

The sandwich construction of chitosan (CS)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite was synthesized through microwave-assisted hydrothermal method without further carbonization or activation process (CRG). CS homogeneous attached between the rGO slice sheet and improve the dispersion of CRG effectively, which can increase its specific surface area with hierarchical porous structure. Dehydration condensation occurred between CS and rGO, forming NHCO groups that can promote the wettability and conductivity of the composites. CRG exhibited improved degree of order and reduced graphitization defect, N-5 and OI groups were the dominant nitrogen and oxygen-containing groups. When used as additive-free electrode, CRG exhibited a high specific capacitance of 274 F g^-1 at the current density of 0.5 A g^-1 with good rate performance in a three-electrode system using 1 M H₂SO₄ electrolyte. Solid-state supercapacitor device was assembled with CRG electrode and lignin hydrogel electrolytes, high gravimetric energy densities of 8.4 Wh kg^-1 at the power density of 50 W kg^-1 was achieved.

Keywords: Addictive-free electrode; Chitosan; Composite; Supercapacitors; rGO.