Nanoporous iron oxide/carbon composites through in-situ deposition of prussian blue nanoparticles on graphene oxide nanosheets and subsequent thermal treatment for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

This work reports the successful preparation of nanoporous iron oxide/carbon composites through the in-situ growth of Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles on the surface of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. The applied thermal treatment allows the conversion of PB nanoparticles into iron oxide (Fe2 O3 ) nanoparticles. The resulting iron oxide/carbon composite exhibits higher specific capacitance at all scan rates than pure GO and Fe2 O3 electrodes due to the synergistic contribution of electric double-layer capacitance from GO and pseudocapacitance from Fe2 O3 . Notably, even at a high current density of 20 A g−1, the iron oxide/carbon composite still shows a high capacitance retention of 51%, indicating that the hybrid structure provides a highly accessible path for diffusion of electrolyte ions.