Freestanding 3D mesoporous graphene oxide for high performance energy storage applications

Abstract

We report a novel thermal reduction process to obtain freestanding 3D mesoporous graphene with excellent electrical conductivity for supercapacitor electrode applications in the presence of a CO atmosphere. The introduction of CO can not only effectively reduce and repair graphene oxide (GO) with fewer defects, but also activate graphene with highly mesoporous nanostructures. The CO-activated thermal graphene oxide (CRGO) exhibits enhanced specific capacitance of 291 Fg⁻¹ at a current density of 1 Ag⁻¹, high rate capability, and excellent cycle performance compared to conventional thermal reduced GO. The method demonstrated that the help of CO is an efficient method for the improvement of the supercapacitive performance of thermally reduced graphene oxide.