3-Dimensional Graphene Carbon Nanotube Carpet-Based Microsupercapacitors with High Electrochemical Performance

Abstract

In this research, 3-dimensional (3D) graphene/carbon nanotube carpets (G/CNTCs)-based microsupercapacitors (G/CNTCs-MCs) were fabricated in situ on nickel electrodes. The G/CNTCs-MCs show impedance phase angle of −81.5° at a frequency of 120 Hz, comparable to commercial aluminum electrolytic capacitors (AECs) for alternating current (ac) line filtering applications. In addition, G/CNTCs-MCs deliver a high volumetric energy density of 2.42 mWh/cm³ in the ionic liquid, more than 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of AECs. The ultrahigh rate capability of 400 V/s enables the microdevices to demonstrate a maximum power density of 115 W/cm³ in aqueous electrolyte. The high-performance electrochemical properties of G/CNTCs-MCs can provide more compact ac filtering units and discrete power sources in future electronic devices. These elevated electrical features are likely enabled by the seamless nanotube/graphene junctions at the interface of the differing carbon allotropic forms.