Fabrication of SDBS intercalated-reduced graphene oxide/polypyrrole nanocomposites for supercapacitors

• SDBS could be serviceable during re-aggregation of the rGO sheets in the reduction process.
• The structural of PPy chain could be restrained from damage during the synthesize process.
• The highest ratio of PPy has the biggest specific capacitance of 277 F/g.

PPy (polypyrrole)/SDBS (sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate) intercalated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites (PPy/GSR) were prepared via in situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the SDBS interposed graphene. FE-SEM (field emission scanning microscopy), TEM (transmitting electron microscopy), UV–vis (ultraviolet and visible) absorption spectroscopy, FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy, XRD (X-ray diffraction) analyzer and TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) instrument were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the samples. The results showed the disordered GSR (SDBS organo modified-rGO) disappeared and rGO existed in the form of individual graphene sheet or stacked layers in PPy matrix. The rGO serves as a support material for nano-sized PPy particles. In addition, CV (cyclic voltammetry), GCD (galvanostatic charge-discharge) and EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) techniques were used to measure the electrochemical properties with a three-electrode cell measurement. The specific capacitance of the PPy/GSR nanocomposite achieved 277 F/g for the PPy/GSR 9:1 sample.