Electrodeposition of porous graphene networks on nickel foams as supercapacitor electrodes with high capacitance and remarkable cyclic stability

ABSTRACT: We describe a facile, low-cost, and green method to fabricate porous graphene networks/nickel foam (PG/NF) electrodes by electrochemical deposition of graphene sheets on nickel foams (NFs) for the application of supercapacitor electrodes. The electrodeposition process was accomplished by electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) in its aqueous suspension. The resultant binder-free PG/NF electrodes exhibited excellent double-layer capacitive performance with a high rate capability and a high specific capacitance of 183.2 mF cm(-2) at the current density of 1 mA cm(-2). Moreover, the specific capacitance maintains nearly 100% over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles, demonstrating a remarkable cyclic stability of these porous supercapacitor electrodes. PACS: 82.47.Uv (Electrochemical capacitors); 82.45.Fk (Electrodes electrochemistry); 81.05.Rm (Fabrication of porous materials) ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1556-276X-9-672) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.