Issue 17, 2018

Rational selection of small aromatic molecules to functionalize graphene for enhancing capacitive energy storage

Abstract

Surface functionalization of graphene sheets with redox-active small molecules can help store more charges due to the added pseudocapacitance. However, a clue on selecting appropriate molecules to enhance the energy storage of graphene-based supercapacitors is unclear. Herein, four different types of aromatic molecules containing amino or hydroxyl groups, or both, are selected to functionalize N-doped graphene (NG) films for a comparison study, aiming to explore factors that can enhance the capacitive performance, such as adsorption affinity to graphene, type of redox group, number of groups in a single molecule, electrochemical redox potential, capability of sustaining higher voltage in Li-salt electrolyte, and cycling performance. Among the selected organic compounds, 4,4ā€²-oxydianiline molecules are found to be a good match for graphene. In a symmetric cell with Li2SO4 electrolyte, the functionalized NG film exhibits a high specific capacitance of 612 F gāˆ’1 as well as maintaining high coulombic efficiency within a voltage window of 1.6 V.

Graphical abstract: Rational selection of small aromatic molecules to functionalize graphene for enhancing capacitive energy storage

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Jan 2018
Accepted
26 Mar 2018
First published
26 Mar 2018

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 7566-7572

Rational selection of small aromatic molecules to functionalize graphene for enhancing capacitive energy storage

Y. Zhao, J. Liu, N. Wang, Q. Li and M. Hu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 7566 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA00710A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements