Graphite-Mediated Microwave-Exfoliated Graphene Fluoride as Supercapacitor Electrodes

Nicoloò Canever; Xianjue Chen; Mark Wojcik; Hui Zhang; Xinchen Dai; Marc Dubois; Thomas Nann

doi:10.3390/nano12111796

Graphite-Mediated Microwave-Exfoliated Graphene Fluoride as Supercapacitor Electrodes

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 May 24;12(11):1796. doi: 10.3390/nano12111796.

Authors

Nicoloò Canever¹, Xianjue Chen², Mark Wojcik³, Hui Zhang⁴, Xinchen Dai⁴, Marc Dubois⁵, Thomas Nann^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Information and Physical Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
² School of Environmental and Life Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
³ Allegro Energy Pty Ltd., Newcastle, NSW 2300, Australia.
⁴ School of Chemistry, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
⁵ Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand (ICCF UME 6296), Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, 24 av. Blaise Pascal, F-63178 Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Abstract

A graphite-mediated microwave-based strategy was used for solid-state exfoliation of graphite fluoride in a few seconds, followed by a simple yet efficient separation to obtain exfoliated materials based on the density difference between graphite and graphene fluoride in solvent. The microwave-exfoliated graphene fluoride was a few layers thick and electrically conductive. The electrochemical testing of pouch-cell supercapacitors assembled by using the exfoliated graphene fluoride electrodes and a novel microemulsion-based electrolyte showed reasonable performance with typical electrical double-layer capacitance behavior and good rate capability (gravimetric specific capacitance: 3.2 F g^-1 at 500 mA g^-1 and 3.1 F g^-1 at 5000 mA g^-1). The BET specific surface areas of the as-exfoliated graphene fluoride are ~60-80 m² g^-1, which could be increased by activation using this simple yet versatile microwave-based method for further improvements on the electrochemical performance.

Keywords: exfoliation; graphene; graphene fluoride; microwave; supercapacitors.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Australian Research Council (DE180100294) and I-Site CAP2025, Université Clermont Auvergne, and Clermont Auvergne Métropole via the Académie CAP20-25.