Preparation and Characterization of Reduced Graphene Oxide Doped in Sol-Gel Derived Silica for Application in Electrochemical Double-Layer Capacitors

In this study, a new graphene ceramic composite (GCC) was prepared based on the reduced grapheneoxide (rGO) doped in sol-gel derived silica. The GCC was prepared by dispersing rGO nanosheets intothe sol-gel precursors containing methyl triethoxysilane, methanol and hydrochloric acid solution.During an acid catalyzed hydrolyze reaction and gelation process, rGO nanosheets were successfullydoped into the prepared gel. The fabricated GCC was characterized by field emission scanning electronmicroscopy, Transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-raydiffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/dischargetechniques. According to the electrochemical results, the prepared GCC has shown remarkable specificcapacitance in comparison with carbon ceramic composite. Due to unique configuration of GCC andlarge specific surface area of rGO, the resultant GCC shows specific capacitance of 428 F g-1 at currentdensity of 1 A g-1and good cycling stability using three electrode system.