Tunable graphene oxide inter-sheet distance to obtain graphene oxide–silver nanoparticle hybrids

A simple and low-cost method is proposed to synthesize graphene oxide incorporated with silver nanoparticles. The inter-sheet distance was controlled by introducing hexylamine into the graphene oxide sheets. The materials were investigated by Raman, UV-vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The increase in inter-sheet distance, due to the presence of hexylamine, favored the growth of the silver nanoparticles within the sheets. We demonstrate that silver nanoparticles increased the electrical conductivity and capacitive properties of the graphene oxide based electrode. The high concentration of well dispersed silver nanoparticles on the surface of the graphene sheets resulted in ca. 90 times higher specific capacitance than bare graphene oxide, in addition to improved electrochemical activity. The proposed method is promising for the development of hybrid materials with enhanced properties for applications mainly in electrochemical energy storage devices.