A 3D nano-sandwich structure constructed by intercalation of aramid nanofibers preventing re-stack of graphene for high surface area electrode materials

In recent decades, graphene has become a popular research topic in the energy storage field, this is due to its unique physical and chemical properties, particularly as electrode material for supercapacitor and battery. The excellent electrical conductivity and high specific surface area of graphene are crucial points to its implementation as active material in energy storage devices. Nevertheless, the graphene’s re-stack is an inevitable technological problem, causing the graphene’s many excellent properties to decrease sharply. In this work, aramid nanofibers as non-conductive and non-capacity were assembled with graphene to prevent the re-stacking phenomena and establish a 3D nano-sandwich structure, which provides more surface area for energy storage. Compared with pristine graphene, the prepared aramid nanofibers and the graphene assembled electrode material showed highest capacity of 285.5 F g−1 at 0.5 A/g with good cycling stability of 81 % over 10, 000 cycles. This significant finding proves that the modification of graphene based-aramid nanofiber composite is an effective strategy in order to the prevent graphene’s re-stack and promote the electrochemical performance.