Poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, polymer was successfully combined with graphene oxide (GO) and thermally reduced graphene oxide (RGO), respectively, to make composites and characterized for supercapacitor applications. PVA-RGO composite shows excellent electrochemical properties compared to PVA-GO composite. The capacitance of 190 Fg(-1) is obtained from PVA-RGO composite which is larger than that (13 Fg(-1)) of PVA-GO composite. Electrochemical impedance of PVA-RGO is more than ten times smaller than that of PVA-GO at 20 kHz, demonstrating that PVA-RGO composite has a great advantage for super capacitor applications compared to PVA, GO, RGO, and PVA-GO composite. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.