A process for producing a thin film graphene oxide-bonded metal foil current collector for a battery or supercapacitor, comprising: (a) preparing a graphene oxide gel having graphene oxide (GO) molecules dissolved in a fluid medium; (b) depositing a layer of GO gel onto at least one of two primary surfaces of a metal foil to form a layer of wet graphene oxide gel, wherein the depositing procedure includes shear-induced thinning of the GO gel; (c) partially or completely removing said fluid medium from the deposited wet layer to form a dry film of GO having an inter-plane spacing d002 of 0.4 nm to 1.2 nm as determined by X-ray diffraction; and (d) heat treating the dry film of graphene oxide to form the thin film graphene oxide-bonded metal foil current collector at a heat treatment temperature from 80° C. to 2,500° C.