Low-temperature exfoliated graphene oxide incorporated with different types of natural rubber latex: Electrical and morphological properties and its capacitance performance

Abstract A simple with cost-effective method in the production and fabrication of graphene-based rubber nanocomposites as electrode materials is still remain a global challenge. In this work, we proposed one- and two-step approaches to fabricate an exfoliated graphene oxide (GO) as nanofiller in three different types of rubber latex polymer, namely, low ammonia natural rubber latex (NRL), radiation vulcanized NRL (RVNRL), and epoxy NRL 25 (ENRL 25). The electrical conductivity and capacitive behavior of nanocomposite samples were investigated under a four-point probe and cyclic voltammetry measurements, respectively. Meanwhile, the morphological properties were observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, optical polarization microscope, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The thermal stabilities of the nanocomposites were also investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Among all, the GO/RVNRL polymer nanocomposite samples performed a better homogeneity with an improved electrical conductivity (~8.6 × 10−4 Scm−1) as compared with the GO/ENRL 25 (~3.1 × 10−4 Scm−1) and GO/NRL (~2.6 × 10−4 Scm−1) polymer nanocomposite samples. In addition, the GO/RVNRL polymer nanocomposite electrodes showed acceptable specific capacitance (5 Fg-1). The successfully fabricated conductive GO-based rubber nanocomposites are suitable for new supercapacitor electrodes.