A COMPARISON OF THREE-WAY SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF REDUCED GRAPHENE OXIDE–SULFUR COMPOSITE

Graphite oxide was prepared by improved Hummer’s method. Then the graphene oxide (GO) suspension was obtained through ultrasonication for 1 h. The GO suspension was mixed with sulfur (S) using three different methods (namely sodium polysulfide route, sodium borohydride route, and hydrothermal route) of which two were chemical methods while one was hydrothermal method to make the composite material of reduce GO and sulfur (rGO–S). The electrode of the rGO–S composite was then prepared by making a slurry of active material, carbon black and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The sample of GO was analyzed using UV–visible and FTIR spectroscopy, while the sample of rGO and S was analyzed using XRD. This confirmed the synthesis of rGO–S for all the three methods. The comparison of all the three methods shows that the chemical methods are time consuming, difficult and toxic while hydrothermal method is easy and friendly.