Electrical enhancement of radiation-vulcanized natural rubber latex added with reduced graphene oxide additives for supercapacitor electrodes

• Published in: Journal of Materials Science
• Main Author: Suriani A.B.; Nurhafizah M.D.; Mohamed A.; Masrom A.K.; Mamat M.H.; Malek M.F.; Ahmad M.K.; Rosmi M.S.; Tanemura M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer New York LLC 2017
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85013052874&doi=10.1007%2fs10853-017-0897-9&partnerID=40&md5=cd05470dc35d267300b5ab500afaf28e

An insulating polymer, radiation vulcanization natural of rubber latex (RVNRL), was successfully converted into electrically conductive nanocomposite by the addition of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) assisted by sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulfonate (TC14) surfactant. The starting material, graphene oxide (GO), was initially synthesized by electrochemical exfoliation assisted by TC14 surfactant. Then, GO/RVNRL nanocomposite was fabricated by latex technology. For rGO/RVNRL nanocomposite, the synthesized GO was further reduced to rGO using hydrazine hydrate and showed electrical enhancement up to 1.32 × 10−3 S cm−1 compared with GO when composited with RVNRL (8.64 × 10−4 S cm−1). For comparison, rGO/RVNRL nanocomposite assisted by the commercially available surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate was prepared, and its electrical conductivity was found to be 1.79 × 10−5 S cm−1, which was several orders of magnitude lower than those of GO/RVNRL and rGO/RVNRL nanocomposites prepared with TC14 surfactant. C–V measurements taken for TC14-rGO/RVNRL and TC14-GO/RVNRL nanocomposites showed specific capacitances of 95 and 63 F g−1, respectively. The structural properties of nanocomposites were characterized using FESEM, HRTEM, UV–Vis, micro-Raman, XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy, and TGA studies. This study was the first to report on the success of converting the insulator polymer RVNRL into a conductive nanocomposite assisted by TC14 surfactant. The nanocomposite can be a new electrode material for supercapacitor application. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.