Few-Layer Graphene Sheet-Passivated Porous Silicon Toward Excellent Electrochemical Double-Layer Supercapacitor Electrode

Few-layer graphene sheet-passivated porous silicon (PSi) as an outstanding electrochemical double-layer supercapacitor electrode was demonstrated. The PSi matrix was formed by electrochemical etching of a doped silicon wafer and was further surface-passivated with few-layer graphene sheets by a Ni-assisted chemical vapor deposition process where a wide range of porous PSi structures, including mesoporous, macroporous, and hybrid porous structures were created during the graphene growth as temperature increases. The microstructural and graphene-passivation effects on the capacitive performance of the PSi were investigated in detail. The hybrid porous PSi electrode, optimized in terms of capacitive performances, achieves a high areal capacitance of 6.21 mF/cm2 at an ultra-high scan rate of 1000 mV/s and an unusual progressing cyclic stability of 131% at 10,000 cycles. Besides mesopores and macropores, micropores were introduced onto the surfaces of the passivating few-layer graphene sheets with a KOH activation process to further increase the functioning surface area of the hierarchical porous PSi electrode, leading to a boost in the areal capacitance by 31.4% up to 8.16 mF/cm2. The present designed hierarchical porous PSi-based supercapacitor proves to be a robust energy storage device for microelectronic applications that require stable high rate capability.