Supercapacitor behavior and characterization of RGO anchored V₂O₅ nanorods

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) anchored vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) nanorods have been synthesized by using simple and cost efficacious sol–gel method. The prepared sample was analyzed by different physical and electrochemical techniques such as TG/DTA, XRD, XPS, FTIR, Micro-Raman, FESEM, HRTEM and cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge. The electrochemical characterization shows that all the curves exhibit quasi-rectangular shape with redox peak, which indicates the pseudocapacitance nature of the V₂O₅ and RGO/V₂O₅ electrode materials. V₂O₅ electrode material exhibits the high specific capacitance (112 F/g) at low scan rate (10 mV/s) due to high surface area. The RGO/V₂O₅ electrode material exhibits two folds greater specific capacitance values (218.4 F/g at 10 mV/s) than pure V₂O₅ electrode material. This result clearly indicates the pseudocapacitance nature was enhanced by the RGO nanosheets. The GCD curve also reveals the RGO/V₂O₅ electrode has good charge/discharge time and superior specific capacitance than bare V₂O₅ electrode. These excellent electrochemical activities may credit due to RGO nanosheets, which induce large transfer of electrons and also provides high surface sites and short transport path length for the diffusion of electrolyte ions.