Effects of graphene oxide addition on the synthesis and supercapacitor performance of carbon aerogel particles

Abstract

Graphene-containing carbon aerogel (CAG) particles with morphologies of spheres, irregular semi-spheres and wrinkle-capsules were synthesized by carbonization of graphene oxide (GO)-loaded resorcinol–formaldehyde aerogels prepared by an inverse emulsion method. The effects of GO content on the morphologies and structures of CAG were explored. It was found that the morphology and particle size could be controlled and adjusted by GO concentration and the stirring rate of the resorcinol–formaldehyde inverse emulsion system, respectively. The ambient drying CAG possesses a BET specific surface area of 488 m² g⁻¹ with a total pore volume of 0.379 cm³ g⁻¹ including 0.215 cm³ g⁻¹ of micropore volume. The electrochemical properties of the prepared CAG particles were investigated as supercapacitors. When the GO concentration is 0.75 wt%, the prepared wrinkle-capsules displayed a stabilized capacity of 123.6 F g⁻¹ under a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹ and 113.9 F g⁻¹ under 1 A g⁻¹ after 2000 cycles, and a superior specific surface area capacitance of 0.23 F m⁻², indicating a good electrochemical performance and potential application in energy storage devices.