AgBTC MOF-Mediated Approach to Synthesize Silver Nanoparticles Decorated on Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO@Ag) for Energy Storage Applications

Abstract

Nanowires of silver-based metal-organic framework (MOF) (AgBTC, BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) were grown onto graphene oxide layers to generate GO-AgBTC nanocomposites. Thermal treatment of these composites in inert atmosphere produced reduced graphene oxide (rGO) decorated with well-dispersed and homogeneous silver nanoparticles (rGO@Ag). The easy and scalable synthesis of AgNPs via MOF-mediated synthesis was achieved by the thermal decomposition of the AgBTC directly onto the rGO surface. The structure, morphology, and electrochemical properties of this novel material were investigated by XRD, Raman, TGA, FE-SEM, TEM, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic charge and discharge experimental techniques. The results showed improved capacitive features for rGO@Ag. Specific gravimetric capacitance measured by galvanostatic charge-discharge yielded a value of 151.97 F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g, pointing out that MOF-mediated synthesis offers a facile method to generate rGO electrodes decorated by uniformly distributed nanoparticles for energy storage devices.