The fabrication of graphene/polydopamine/nickel foam composite material with excellent electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrode

A three dimensional composite electrode consisted of reduced graphene oxide (rGO), polydopamine (PDA) and nickel foam (NF) (rGO/PDA/NF) was fabricated by immersing NF into PDA aqueous solution and then graphene oxide (GO) suspension solution respectively, and followed by annealing treatment. During the procedure, GO was coated on NF with assistance of cohesive effect of the PDA middle film, and the reduction of GO and nitrogen doping occurred simultaneously while annealing. Through XRD analyzing, the composites GO/PDA and rGO/PDA treated in experiment are amorphous. The resulted rGO/PDA/NF composite electrode was directly applied as a supercapacitor electrode and showed excellent electrochemical performance, with a high specific capacitance of 566.9 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹, the maximum energy density of 172.7 W h kg⁻¹ and a power density of 27.2 kW kg⁻¹ in 1 mol L⁻¹ Na₂SO₄ electrolyte.