Hydrothermally synthesized BiVO4–reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as a high performance supercapacitor electrode with excellent cycle stability

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate the synthesis of a BiVO₄/rGO hybrid nanostructure by a simple hydrothermal method. A symmetric cell based on this hybrid nanostructure was fabricated and its electrochemical properties tested in both PVA/H₂SO₄ gel and aqueous Na₂SO₄ electrolyte. The BiVO₄/rGO hybrid-based symmetric supercapacitor exhibited better performance in the solid electrolyte with a high specific capacitance of 400 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹ and excellent energy density of 35.37 W h kg⁻¹. The as-fabricated symmetric supercapacitor shows excellent stability, retaining 98% of its initial capacitance after 1000 cycles.