Laser induced self-propagating reduction and exfoliation of graphite oxide as an electrode material for supercapacitors

•Few layers graphene was obtained by laser induced self-propagating reduction.•The process is ultrafast without assistance of any high temperate/vacuum environment.•The as-prepared graphene exhibits excellent electrochemical performance.•The superior capacitive behavior is owing to its unique structures.

Focused laser beam induced self-propagating reaction has been developed for fabrication of graphene rapidly and efficiently through simultaneous reduction and exfoliation of graphite oxide (GO) process. This chemical-free approach can realize the reduction and exfoliation at room temperature without assistance of any high temperature/vacuum environment. We found that the small sized spot can trigger an ultrafast and highly thermal transferred process by self-propagating reaction at ambient conditions. Benefiting from its high surface area and unique structure, the laser induced self-propagating reaction reduced graphene (LIG) shows excellent capacitive performance. Considering that the cost-effective and feasible process, this facile technique presented here will not only provide a promising method for production of graphene on an industrial scale, but also put forward the application graphene materials in energy storage and conversion.

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