Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide / Mn₃ O₄ nanocomposites for supercapacitors

Reduced graphene oxide/ Mn₃O₄(rGO/ Mn₃O₄ ) nanocomposites were prepared from MnSO₄ and GO produced by a modified Hummers method. The GO was deoxygenated by heat treatment, and MnO₂ generated by hydrolysis of MnSO₄ was simul-taneously reduced to Mn₃O₄ . The Mn₃O₄ content in the composites could be tailored by the volume of supernatant in the pristine GO/ MnSO₄ suspension. The maximum specific capacitance of the rGO/ Mn₃O₄ composite is 284 F·g ^-1 at 50 mA·g ^-1 as an anode material in a saturated K₂SO₄ solution. This approach separates GO from the suspension without complicated procedures, and cheap MnSO₄ is used as a Mn₃O₄ source