The influence of gamma irradiation on the electrical, thermal, and electrochemical properties of reduced graphene oxide

In this paper, the properties of γ-ray reduced graphene oxide (GRGOs) samples are compared to hydrazine reduced graphene oxide (HRGO) sample. Characterization techniques FTIR, XRD, Raman spectra, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, TGA, electrometer, and cyclicvoltemety were used for the verification of the reduction process, structural changes & defects, and measure the thermal, electrical, and electrochemical properties of samples. It was concluded that γ- Irradiation distorts the structure of GRGOs with massive defects owing to the greater formation of new smaller sp² - hybridized domains compared to HRGO. The thermal stability of GRGOs was higher than HRGO indicating the more efficient removal of thermally-labile oxygen species by γ-ray. Furthermore, RRGOs showed a pseudocapacitive behavior compared to the electrical double layer behavior of HRGO. The most interesting obtained results are the enhanced specific capacitance of GRGOs to nearly three times in comparison to HRGO which indicates the preference for radiation reduction method in energy storage applications.