A three-dimensional electrode fabricated by electrophoretic deposition of graphene on nickel foam for structural supercapacitors

Abstract

We report a novel, facile and versatile electrophoretic deposition approach to prepare a three-dimensional rGO@NF structural electrode as a binder-free structural supercapacitor electrode in the field of building energy storage applications. Nickel foam (NF) was used as the carrier of electrode active material and the electrophoretic deposition of GO on NF was carried out using a signal generator. Typical SEM photographs indicate that a large amount of highly conductive graphene was successfully anchored on a porous nickel foam framework by electrophoretic deposition and a thermal reduction process at high temperature, which provides enough channels for ion storage and migration. The resulting 3D rGO@NF structural electrode exhibited good double-layer behavior due to its high conductivity, porous structure and sufficient deposition mass of graphene. In order to investigate the effects of high temperature thermal reduction time, duty cycle, voltage and frequency on the electrochemical performance of the structural electrode in detail, chemical and physical analyses and electrochemical tests of the rGO@NF structural electrode were carried out. The electrodeposition method shows good potential in the preparation of various types of three-dimensional carbon-based structural electrodes used in the field of building energy storage applications.