On the difference of characterization and supercapacitive performance of graphene nanosheets from precursors of inertinite- and vitrinite-rich coal

Being an interesting carbon material, graphene has gained a lot of attention. Graphene nanosheets (GNs) can be produced from coal-based graphite, which is metamorphosed from coal. In this paper, inertinite- and vitrinite-rich coals were used as precursors for preparing graphene nanosheets, and the characterization and supercapacitive performance of GNs were studied. The results show that GNs from inertinite-rich coal (GNs-I) are relatively larger and more disordered than GNs from vitrinite-rich coal (GNs-V). The electrochemical experiments indicate that the capacitance and the resistance of GNs-I is both larger and higher than GNs-V.