Controllable synthesis of gossamer-like Nb₂O₅-RGO nanocomposite and its application to supercapacitor

The gossamer-like Nb₂O₅-RGO nanocomposite was synthesized through a solvothermal treatment, and the Nb₂O₅ nanoparticles were uniformly coated on the RGO sheets. The size of the Nb₂O₅ nanoparticles is about 200–700 nm. The applications of Nb₂O₅-RGO as supercapacitor were then explored systematically. The morphology, textural structure, and physicochemical property of Nb₂O₅-RGO were investigated by using SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, TG, and Raman. The electrochemical performance of RGO, Nb₂O₅, and Nb₂O₅-RGO was assessed through CV and galvanostatic charge-discharge test. The experimental results show that gossamer-like Nb₂O₅-RGO exhibits partial faradic pseudocapacitance and good electrical double layer capacitance property. The specific capacitance value 299.23 Fg⁻¹ of Nb₂O₅-RGO nanocomposite is about 2.7 and 1.7 times higher than that of Nb₂O₅ and RGO, retaining 87.72% of its initial capacitance after 2000 cycles under the optimized conditions, which demonstrate that more ordered binary architecture Nb₂O₅-RGO nanocomposite along with easy synthesis possesses faster charge-discharge kinetics and excellent supercapacitive performance.