Electrophoretic deposition of graphene nanosheets on nickel foams for electrochemical capacitors

Abstract Graphene nanosheets are deposited on nickel foams with 3D porous structure by an electrophoretic deposition method using the colloids of graphene monolayers in ethanol as electrolytes. The high specific capacitance of 164 F g−1 is obtained from cyclic voltammetry measurement at a scan rate of 10 mV s−1. When the current densities are set as 3 and 6 A g−1, the specific capacitance values still reach 139 and 100 F g−1, respectively. The high capacitance is attributed to nitrogen atoms in oxidation product of p-phenylene diamine (OPPD) adsorbed on the surface of the graphene nanosheets. The comparable results suggest potential application to electrochemical capacitors based on the graphene nanosheets.