Graphene-based lithium ion capacitor with high gravimetric energy and power densities

Hybrid capacitor configurations are now of increasing interest to overcome the current energy limitations of supercapacitors. In this work, we report a lithium ion capacitor (LIC) entirely based on graphene. On the one hand, the negative-battery-type- electrode consists of a self-standing, binder-free 3D macroporous foam formed by reduced graphene oxide and decorated with tin oxide nanoparticles (SnO2-rGO). On the other hand, the positive-capacitor-type- electrode is based on a thermally expanded and physically activated reduced graphene oxide (a-TEGO). For comparison purposes, a symmetric electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) using the same activated graphene in 1.5 M Et4NBE4/ACN electrolyte is also assembled. Built in 1 M LiPF6 EC:DMC, the graphene-based LIC shows an outstanding, 10-fold increase in energy density with respect to its EDLC counterpart at low discharge rates (up to 200 Wh kg(-1)). Furthermore, it is still capable to deliver double the energy in the high power region, within a discharge time of few seconds. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.