Characterization of graphene-based supercapacitors fabricated on Al foils using Au or Pd thin films as interlayers

We demonstrate that an Au or Pd interlayer between graphene and an Al-foil current collector plays an important role in enhancing supercapacitor performance. Graphene was prepared by scalable chemical exfoliation and mild thermal reduction (∼150 °C) processes. Working electrodes were prepared by coating the graphene on Au/Al or Pd/Al by drop-dry method. The graphene deposited on the noble metals Au and Pd demonstrated excellent supercapacitor performance. Estimated specific energy and specific power of supercapacitors were ∼40 Wh/kg and ∼40 kW/kg at the current density of ∼33 A/g, when operated in organic solution. Altogether, we demonstrate that employing noble metals in the fabrication of graphene-based supercapacitors can lead to excellent performance, and this could be a critical basis for further development of graphene-based supercapacitors.