A study of the synergetic effect between graphene oxide and transition metal oxides for energy storage

Abstract

A series of graphene/transition metal oxide (TMO) composite films were prepared through an electrostatic self-assembly method. Graphene oxide (GO) sheets were decorated with Co₃O₄, LaCoO₃, SrTiO₃, NiCo₂O₄ and NiMoO₄ nanostructures and applied as electrode materials for supercapacitors. The electrochemical properties of the GO/TMO films were tested and compared to investigate the enhancement mechanism of energy storage performance. Subsequently, the graphene matrix was designed and changed to be composed of different portions of GO and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to study the synergetic effect between the functional groups on the graphene sheets and the TMOs. It was proved that both GO and TMOs played important roles in the electrochemical properties of the composite films. This study provided a new insight to develop GO based high-performance supercapacitor materials by a simple and low-cost way.