Facile synthesis of Cu2O-rGO nanocomposite with enhanced electrochemical performance as a supercapacitor electrode

A straightforward chemical bath synthesis to produce a well-defined Copper Oxide (Cu 2 O) cubes, in conjunction with reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO), offers a promising strategy to enhance electrochemical performance of the pristine oxide material. A gradual increase in the amount of graphene oxide (GO) in Cu 2 O cubes significantly enhanced the specific capacitance (C s ). The optimized Cu 2 O-rGO nanocomposite electrode exhibited a specific capacitance of 393.7 F·g −1 in a 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte, retaining over 92 % of its electrochemical stability over 5000 charge-discharge cycles. This enhancement is likely attributed to the synergistic effects of Cu 2 O cubes combined with the in-situ reduction of GO during the reaction enabling charge transfer efficiency for the improved electrochemical properties. Also, the BET analysis for specific surface area (SSA) is found to be increased with addition of GO and average pore size diameter is suppressed. Therefore, the present Cu 2 O-rGO nanocomposite with high specific capacitance could be realized as a cost-effective, ecofriendly, non-hazardous, and sustainable supercapacitor electrode material.