Electrochemical properties of composites of graphene-oxide and cobalt-ferrite doped with zink and gallium

Abstract

This paper presents the electrochemical properties of graphene-oxide composites and nanoparticles of cobalt-ferrite, as well as cobalt-ferrite doped with zinc and gallium. Graphene-oxide (GO) was synthesized by a modified Hummer's method. The magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by the solvothermal method, after which the oleic acid was exchanged with dihydrocaffeic acid to obtain the hydrophilic material. Composites of graphene-oxide and magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by the hydrothermal method, where the share of magnetic particles was 5 and 15 wt.% on graphene-oxide. The results of X-ray structural and FTIR analysis confirmed the complete oxidation of graphene layers. SEM and TEM analyzes showed deposition of magnetic nanoparticles on the graphene-oxide layer, without changing the size or shape of the nanoparticles. FTIR analysis of hydrothermally treated graphene oxide and composites showed that there is a partial reduction of epoxy groups, also a hydrogen bond is established between the components of the composite. Cyclic voltammograms show that the composites are stable at polarization rates of 5-400 mV s-1 , and that their capacity is predominantly pseudocapacitive in nature. Pseudocapacitance originates from the oxidoreduction reactions of H+ ions from electrolytes and surface functional groups of graphene-oxide. Based on the cyclic voltammograms, the specific capacities of all composites were calculated and the highest value being shown by the CFO_GO_15% composite, which is 36.86 F g-1 at a polarization rate of 5 mV s-1 .

Keywords

• graphene-oxide
• cobalt-ferrite
• electrochemistry