Electrochemical and capacitive behavior of reduced graphene oxide from green reduction of graphene oxide by urea for supercapacitor electrodes

Graphene is a 2D material that attracts great attention from researchers worldwide due to its excellent properties such as large surface area, excellent chemical stability, high electron mobility and electrical conductivity. In this study, the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), one of the derivatives of graphene materials, was performed by urea as a green reduction for supercapacitor electrodes. The successful result of rGO was characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope, and Electron Dispersive X-ray. The electrochemical and capacitive performance of rGO was analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The calculated maximum specific capacitance of rGO is 327.20 F g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1. Also, the electrode has an energy density of 46.96 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 312.69 W kg−1, with excellent cycle stability of 87.80 after 5000 cycles. This green reduction mechanism is eco-friendly and promising GO reduction into rGO production, also giving enhanced electrochemical and capacitive properties for supercapacitor electrode applications. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.