Spicing graphene with electroactive inorganic compounds: Graphene hybrid nanocomposites for energy storage

Abstract

Ten years ago graphene became the new kid in nanocarbon Town. Fundamental studies and potential applications have grown ever since like for no other material in recent times. What could be better than a material stronger than steel, harder than diamond, with great thermal conductivity, modulated electronic conductivity, light as plastic and simple as carbon? The answer is hybrid materials made of it and any other material with complementary functionalities, such as electroactive redox materials. We have developed a prospective line of work dealing with the synthesis of hybrid nanocomposites of nanocarbons with a variety of extended oxides (MnO2, CuO) as well as with molecular polyoxometalates, alike of metal oxide molecular clusters. This approach has been applied to Graphenes leading to materials with a perfect combination of properties for their use as active electrode materials in energy-storage devices, namely, a combination of conductivity-electroactivity as well as a combination of double-layer capacitive energy storage (graphene) and faradaic energy storage in a single material with a dual energy storage mechanism. We will discuss examples of this type of materials and their improved energy storage properties, together with efforts for the integral development of low-cost high-performance electrodes based on sponge macro and microstructures of graphene and oxides.