Nano gold decorated reduced graphene oxide wrapped polymethylmethacrylate for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

Herein, a simple one step synthetic protocol was adopted to fabricate nano gold decorated reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) wrapped polymethyl methacrylate nanohybrids (PMMA/r-GO/Au) for symmetric supercapacitor applications. Synthesized nanohybrids were characterized by UV-visible, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The gold nanoparticles were found to be distributed uniformly on the surface of r-GO layers with a basement of PMMA. Thermal stability of the fabricated PMMA/r-GO/Au nanohybrid was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and an improvement in thermal stability was observed as compared to PMMA and PMMA/r-GO nanohybrids. Electrochemical performance of the PMMA/r-GO/Au nanohybrids was investigated as electrode material in three electrode systems in addition to a symmetric cell in a two electrode system with 1 M H₂SO₄ medium. The fabricated PMMA/r-GO/Au nanohybrid-based symmetric cell delivered significantly higher energy density of 29.46 W h kg⁻¹ at a power density of 235 W kg⁻¹ as compared to that of the PMMA/r-GO-based symmetric cell. The improved energy storing capacity of this material was assigned from the synergistic effect of r-GO and Au NPs in a typical layered arrangement. The substantial improvement in electrochemical performance may enable the synthesized ternary nanohybrid for supercapacitor applications.