Synthesis and Characterization of Reduced Graphene Oxide/ Polyaniline/Au Nanoparticles Hybrid Material for Energy Applications

Abstract

In this work, synthesis and characterization of reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline/Au nanoparticles (GO/PANI/NpAu) as a hybrid capacitor are presented. Graphite oxide (GO) was synthesized by a modified Hummer's method. Polyaniline was synthesized by chemical polymerization, and Au nanoparticles (NpAu) were added afterward. Fabrication of the electrodes consisted on the hybrid materials being deposited on carbon cloth electrodes. The chemical and structural properties of the electrode were characterized by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (X-R), and Raman spectroscopy; the results confirm the graphene reduction, the covalent functionalization, and formation of nano-composites and also show the polyaniline grafted graphene. The performance and evaluation of the electrodes based on grapheme oxide (GO), polyaniline (PANI), GO-PANI, and GO/PANI/NpAu nanocomposites over carbon cloth, stainless steel, and copper have been obtained in 1 M H 2 SO 4 solution, using electrochemical techniques namely: cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). They showed that GO/PANI/NpAu gave higher specific capacitance (SC) and energy values than PANI, and GO/PANI, in the order of 160 F/g. The present study introduces new hybrid material for energy applications, from the evaluation of their electrical contributions.