A combustion method to synthesize nanoporous graphene

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a combustion method which is rapid, low cost, mass-producing and environmentally friendly to produce nanoporous graphene. After loading a graphene oxide aerogel (GOA)/paper (GOP) on a preheated hot plate (as the heat source, with a temperature as low as 200 °C) under an ambient environment, in a few seconds, the GOA/GOP would self-combust and change into reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with nanopores mainly concentrated in the 0.4–2.0 nm range and a large specific surface area of 536 m² g⁻¹. Supercapacitors fabricated with the synthesized porous RGO (P-RGO) showed a high specific capacitance of 245 F g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, and a retention rate of about 96.9% after 12 000 cycle tests with respect to the initial specific capacitance with a scan rate of 10.0 A g⁻¹. The production yield of this method was as high as 77.0%.