A facile one-step method for graphene oxide/natural rubber latex nanocomposite production for supercapacitor applications

A new and facile one-step method to synthesise graphene oxide/natural rubber latex (GO/NRL) nanocomposite was achieved using an electrochemical exfoliation method. In this method, the fabrication of GO/NRL nanocomposite occurs concurrently with GO production that is intermixed with NRL. This approach is a simple and innovative method that succeeded in producing nanocomposite with better conductivity. The samples were characterized using FESEM, HRTEM, FT-IR, UV-vis, micro-Raman spectroscopy, XRD, TGA, I-V and C-V measurements. The C-V analysis showed that the specific capacitance of the samples prepared via the one-step method was 103.7 F g(-1), much better than those produced via a two-step method (32.6 F g(-1)). These results were also consistent with the I-V analysis, in which a higher conductivity value was measured for the one-step method (7.12 x 10(-5) S cm(-1)) than for the two-step method (3.62 x 10(-7) S cm(-1)). In conclusion, the one-step method introduced for the fabrication of GO/NRL nanocomposite is a promising method for implementation in supercapacitor applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.