Covalent intercalation of hydrazine derived graphene oxide as an efficient 2D material for supercapacitor application

Abstract Herein, we demonstrate a covalent modification of hydrazine functionalized graphene oxide (FGO-H) using a protected tert-butyl carbazate (t-boc) as an intercalating agent over the GO surface and investigated as electrode candidates for electrochemical supercapacitor applications. The resulting functionalized materials were examined by different physicochemical techniques to investigate the physical and structural features of the as-made functionalized GO materials. The favorable method for the surface modification of GO is achieved by treating the primary amine of t-boc with the epoxide groups on the surface of GO. The FGO-TBpa electrode materials lead to the covalent coordinating moieties in between the basal planes of GO by enlargement of interlayer spacing of 1.8 nm from 0.9 nm. More importantly, the functionalized FGO-H can encourage the diffusion of electrolyte ion and result in the enhanced supercapacitance features. Notably, the FGO-H electrode has revealed a comparatively higher specific capacitance of 305 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and showed excellent capacitance retention of 90%. The functionalized GO-based energy materials will have incredible impending applications in the energy-related systems.