Plasticstrends

Rod Ruoff’s group from the University of Texas at Austin claimed first to have reported the formation of a stable suspension of graphene oxide in propylene carbonate. Furthermore, they have been able to reduce a significant amount of oxygen functional group by thermally treating the suspension at 150°C which resulted in an electrically conductive film.

 

Researchers expect the method to be an economical processing route for electrode materials for ultracapacitor applications. By constructing an ultracapacitor cell with the electrode made of this reduced graphene oxide, researchers showed that the cell could yield specific capacitance values greater than 120 F/g which could rival current commercial ultracapacitors.

 

[Ref: R.S. Ruoff et al. ACS Nano, DOI:10.1021/nn901689, Web publication date Jan. 29, 2010]