Surface-modified reduced graphene oxide electrodes for capacitors by ionic liquids and their electrochemical properties

Highlights: • Reduced graphene oxide surface was modified by introduction of ionic liquids. • Microstructure and capacitance of modified electrode were dependent on the ionic liquids contents. • Modification gives electrode better charge transport and higher specific capacitance. • Modified electrode showed the better capacitive performance such as rate capability and cycle stability. - Abstract: In this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/ionic liquids (IL) composites with different weight ratios of IL to rGO were synthesized by a simple method. In these composites, IL contributed to the exfoliation of rGO sheets and to the improvement of the electrochemical properties of the resulting composites by enhancing the ion diffusion and charge transport. The structure of the composites was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The TEM images showed that IL was coated on the surface of rGO in a translucent manner. The electrochemical analysis of the prepared composites was carried out by performing cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Among the prepared composites, the one with a weight ratio of rGO to IL of 1:7 showed the highest specific capacitance of 147.5 F g−1 at a scan rate of 10 mV s−1. In addition, the rate capability and cycle performance of the composites were enhanced compared to pristine rGO. These enhanced properties make the composites suitable as electrode materials for the better performance supercapacitors