Effect of Silver Content on Structural, Electronic Network, and Electrochemical Properties of rGOAg-PCL Electrospun Nanofiber

Abstract

In this study, a facile chemical method has been used to prepare electrospun reduced graphene oxide(rGO)/silver(Ag)/polycaprolactone(PCL) nanofiber. The SEM images reveal diameter of nanofibers varied in the range between 1.0337 and 1.597 µm. The FT-IR signatures at 2955 cm⁻¹, 1720 cm⁻¹, 1258 cm⁻¹, 1157 cm⁻¹, 1063 cm⁻¹, 953 cm⁻¹ and 586 cm⁻¹ correspond to ν-(O–H), ν-(C = O), ν-(C–OH), ν-(C–O), ν-(C–O–C) and ν-(C–H) and stretching in the rGO/Ag/PCl respectively. The structural defect parameter, I_D/I_G, ratios varied from 0.65 to 1.06 revealing the increase of oxidation and the nanocluster formation of rGO. The XPS analysis predicted the elemental constitution and binding energy of the nanofiber, and a semiempirical analysis of O(1 s) and C(1 s) has been employed. From CV analysis, the specific capacitance has been observed to increase for sample from rGAg₁-PCL to rGAg₃-PCL and then decreases on rGAg₄-PCL for all scan rates. The maximal specific capacitance of 306F/g has been observed for the rGAg₃-PCL sample at a scan rate of 5 mV/s. Overall, this study presents a promising approach to synthesizing a highly efficient nanocomposite material with potential applications in various fields such as energy storage, catalysis, and sensors.