Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide/thorn-like titanium dioxide nanofiber aerogels with enhanced electrochemical performance for supercapacitor

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/thorn-like TiO₂ nanofiber (TTF) aerogels, or GTTF aerogels, with different TTF weight ratios were successfully prepared by electrospinning, silica etching and hydrothermal combination method. During the hydrothermal reaction, the rGO nanosheets and TTF self-assembled into three-dimensional (3D) interconnected networks, in which the TTF is loaded onto the rGO nanosheets. The electrochemical performance of the GTTF aerogels was assessed using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements in a 1 M aqueous Na₂SO₄ electrolyte. The TTF-to-rGO ratio of the aerogel material significantly affected the electrochemical performance of the aerogel electrodes, and the GTTF aerogels prepared with 20 wt% TTF (denoted GTTF-20) exhibited excellent electrochemical performance. The maximum specific capacitance of this aerogel electrode was 178 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. The GTTF-20 aerogel also exhibited good electrochemical stability with a capacitance degradation of less than 10% after 3000 cycles. We can deduce that the electrochemical performance of the as-prepared aerogels may be enhanced by increasing the chemical interactions between rGO and TiO₂. The results indicate that the GTTF aerogels show enormous potential for application in energy storage devices.