Supercapacitors Based\non Resveratrol/Reduced Graphene\nOxide Composites

Abstract

Resveratrol (Res), which is a redox activation reagent,\nis a remarkably\ncheap and high-energy pseudocapacitive material because of possessing\nfast and reversible redox reactivity. Herein, we investigated Res\nas an organic compound with oxidation–reduction activity. One\nof the effective strategies to address these drawbacks, which are\nhigh costs, unfriendly environment, and short redox reactivity, is\nto composite Res with three-dimensional graphene structures. The obtained\ncomposites of Res/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) showed an abundance\nof active sites and a high specific capacitance. Res/rGO composites\nwith different amounts of Res and GO were prepared using a one-step\nhydrothermal method. Electrochemical performance test results showed\nthat the addition of Res resulted in a higher specific capacitance\nof the composite compared with that of rGO, reaching 588 F g^–1 in 6 mol L^–1 potassium hydroxide when the mass\nratio of GO-to-Res was 3:1. In the specific capacitance at a current\ndensity of 2 A g^–1, cycling stability was good,\nand the initial capacitance was 88.8% after 10,000 cycles. Adsorption\nenergies and density of states of Res on graphene surfaces are calculated\nto further understand the charge storage mechanism by density functional\ntheory. The calculation results show that Res plays a crucial role\nin excellent electrochemical performance.