Ultrafast room-temperature reduction of graphene oxide by sodium borohydride, sodium molybdate and hydrochloric acid

Since graphene-based materials have shown great potential in many fields, it is important to explore ultrafast and high-efficient methods to synthesize reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using inexpensive reducing agents under mild conditions. Here, we reported a novel method for the ultrafast chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) at room temperature using sodium borohydride (NaBH4), sodium molybdate (Na2MoO4) and hydrochloric acid (HCI). The reduction was carried out within 2 min. A series of characterization results revealed that the obtained reduced graphene oxide has higher reduction degree than that synthesized by NaBH4 alone at high temperature. Moreover, rGO electrode based on the present reducing method exhibited a superior specific capacitance of 139.8 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g, indicating that it can be used as electrode materials for supercapacitors. (C) 2020 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel method for ultrafast chemical reduction of graphene oxide at room temperature using NaBH4, Na2MoO4, and HCl was developed in this study, resulting in rGO with higher reduction degree compared to rGO synthesized solely by NaBH4 at high temperature. The rGO electrode based on this reducing method exhibited a superior specific capacitance, making it suitable for supercapacitors.