Cobalt oxide nanocubes as electrode material for the performance evaluation of electrochemical supercapacitor

Porous cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) nanocubes (NCs) were synthesized by a simple and cost-effective hydrothermal technique for the potential application of electrochemical supercapacitors. The hydrothermally synthesized materials exhibited the small cube like morphology with the average size of ~ 50 to 60 nm. The surface analysis revealed a good surface area, and high pore volume of the synthesized porous Co₃O₄ NCs. The capacitive properties of porous Co₃O₄ NCs electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in 6 M KOH electrolyte and a high specific capacitance of ~ 430.6 F/g at a scan rate of ~ 10 mV s^?1 was observed. The capacity retention of up to ~ 85% after 1000 cycles was shown by the fabricated porous Co₃O₄ NCs electrode. The porous Co₃O₄ NCs showed excellent structural stability through cycling with promising capacity retention which suggested a good quality of porous Co₃O₄ NCs as electrochemical supercapacitor electrode.     

Hierarchical Co3O4@ZnWO4 core/shell nanostructures on nickel foam: Synthesis and electrochemical performance for supercapacitors

To improve the electrochemical properties of Co₃O₄ for supercapacitors application, a hierarchical Co₃O₄@ZnWO₄ core/shell nanowire arrays (NWAs) material is designed and synthesized successfully via a facile two-step hydrothermal method followed by the heat treatment. Co₃O₄@ZnWO₄ NWAs exhibits excellent electrochemical performances with areal capacitance of 4.1 F cm⁻² (1020.1 F g⁻¹) at a current density of 2 mA cm⁻² and extremely good cycling stability (99.7% of the initial capacitance remained even after 3000 cycles). Compared with pure Co₃O₄ electrodes, the results prove that this unique hierarchical hybrid nanostructure and reasonable assembling of two electrochemical pseudocapacitor materials are more advantageous to enhance the electrochemical performance. Considering these remarkable capacitive behaviors, the hierarchical Co₃O₄@ZnWO₄ core/shell NWAs nanostructure electrode can be revealed promising for high-performance supercapacitors.     

Facile synthesis of Co3O4 nanoflowers grown on Ni foam with superior electrochemical performance

Novel large-scale Co₃O₄ nanoflower (NF) structures on Ni foam are prepared for the first time via a general two-step synthesis. Through a controllable solvothermal process and hereafter with a post-calcination process in air, the NFs have been grown firmly on Ni foam, which is convenient for the construction of supercapacitors without any extra electrode preparation process. The pore sizes and the amount of Co₃O₄ NFs can be tuned through different post-calcination and solvothermal conditions, respectively. The electrochemical properties of the NFs are tested by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge in 6.0 M KOH solution. The results show that the NFs can have a specific capacitance of 1936.7 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹ and a capacity retention of 78.2% after 1000 cycles at a current density of 3 A g⁻¹ (1309.4 F g⁻¹). The Co₃O₄ NFs grown on Ni foam with large area and superior electrochemical performance have great potential application in supercapacitors.     

Conventional- and microwave-hydrothermal synthesis of LiMn2O4: Effect of synthesis on electrochemical energy storage performances

The LiMn₂O₄ electrode materials were synthesized by the conventional-hydrothermal and microwave-hydrothermal methods. The electrochemical performances of LiMn₂O₄ were studied as supercapacitors in LiNO₃ electrolyte and lithium-ion battery cathodes. The microwave-hydrothermal method can synthesize LiMn₂O₄ electrode materials with reversible electrochemical reaction in a short reaction time and low reaction temperature than conventional-hydrothermal route. The capacitance of LiMn₂O₄ electrode increased with increasing crystallization time in conventional-hydrothermal route. The results showed that LiMn₂O₄ supercapacitors had similar discharge capacity and potential window (1.2 V) as that of ordinary lithium-ion battery cathodes. In LiNO₃ aqueous electrolyte, the reaction kinetics of LiMn₂O₄ supercapacitors was very fast. Even, at current densities of 1 A/g and 5 A/g, aqueous electrolyte gave good capacity compared with that in organic electrolyte at a current density of 0.05 A/g.     

Dense and long carbon nanotube arrays decorated with Mn3O4 nanoparticles for electrodes of electrochemical supercapacitors

Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles have been homogenously deposited within highly dense, millimeter-long carbon nanotube array (CNTA) by dip-casting method from non-aqueous solutions. After modified with Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles, CNTAs have been changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic without their alignment and integrity being destroyed. The hydrophilic Mn₃O₄/CNTA composite electrodes present improved performance for supercapacitors, compared with as-grown CNTA electrodes. The maximum specific capacitance of the Mn₃O₄/CNTA composite electrode was found to be 143 F/g, leading to an exceptionally high area-normalized capacitance (Faraday per geometric area of the electrode) of 1.70 F/cm², while the specific capacitance for as-grown CNTA electrode is only 1–2 F/g. When normalized to the deposited Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles, the specific capacitance was estimated to be as high as 292 F/g. The method is promising for producing high performance area-limited electrochemical supercapacitors and provides a new route of decorating highly dense CNTAs with active materials.     

Effect of calcination temperature on structural,morphological and electrochemical properties of Sn doped Co3O4 nanorods

Tremendous attention has been devoted for the development of highly efficient and stable electrode materials for supercapacitor applications. In this study, Sn-doped Co₃O₄ nanorods were prepared via solvothermal process using PVP and oxalic acid as surfactants. The phase, morphology and composition of Sn-doped Co₃O₄ nanorods were examined by XRD and SEM/EDX techniques. The electrochemical properties were studied via cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charging-discharging (GCD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The CV results show that electrode based on 5 at. % Sn-doped Co₃O₄ (5Sn-doped Co₃O₄) nanorods delivered the highest specific capacitance (842.44 F/g) at 5 mV/s than that of the electrode based on pure Co₃O₄ (729.39 F/g). In order to further tune the performance of this electrode, the structure, morphology and electrochemical behavior of 5Sn-doped Co₃O₄ sample were optimized via variety of calcination temperatures ranging from 250 to 400 °C. Notably, the 5Sn-doped Co₃O₄ sample calcined at 350 °C exhibited higher electrochemical performance (specific capacitance ~913.10 F/g) than other samples calcined at low or high calcination temperatures. The CV curves of 5Sn-doped Co₃O₄/T-350 °C at scan rates of 5–35 mV/s also showed pseudocapacitor behavior and good electrochemical reversibility. Moreover, the prepared novel electrode material has also displayed good rate capability (71.77%) at current density of 1–10 A/g and long-term stability of 92.23% after 3000 cycles. These excellent electrochemical characteristics of 5Sn–Co₃O₄/T-350 °C nanorods verified that it will be highly suitable electrode material for supercapacitor applications.     

Solvothermal synthesis of porous MnCo2O4.5 spindle-like microstructures as high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors

This study presents the facile preparation of novel MnCo₂O_4.5 microspindles (MSs) for the first time through a rapid solvothermal method combined with subsequent calcination of the precursor at 450 °C for 4 h in air. The MnCo₂O_4.5 MSs have an average length of 4–5 µm and diameter of 2–4 µm, respectively, achieving a specific surface area as high as 83.3 m² g⁻¹. In addition, the size and morphology of the MnCo₂O_4.5 microstructures could be easily tuned by some parameters including reaction time, volume ratio of ethanol to water, and dosage of urea. The electrochemical performance was further evaluated in three-electrode system, detailed electrochemical characterizations revealed that such MnCo₂O_4.5 MSs exhibited both high specific capacitance of 343 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹ and excellent cycling performance of 81.3% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at a current density of 4 A g⁻¹ in 2 M of KOH electrolyte, which made it a potential electrode material for an advanced supercapacitor. Furthermore, the present synthetic method is simple and can be extended to the synthesis of other electrode materials based on transition metal oxides.     

Fabrication and characterization of monodispersed Mn0.8Ni0.2Co2O4 mesoporous microspheres for supercapacitor application

The monodispersed Ni doped MnCo₂O₄ mesoporous microspheres were synthesized through a simple ammonium bicarbonate-assisted solvothermal route. The spinel-type crystal structure with a lattice parameter of 8.199?Å for Mn_0.8Ni_0.2Co₂O₄ composition was obtained by using X-ray diffraction analysis. The Brunauer?Emmett?Teller (BET) specific surface area of the sample was found to be 75.78?m² g^?1 with an average pore diameter of 9.88?nm. Electron microscopy studies revealed that the stable mesoporous microspheres are constituted by well-connected aggregates of nanoparticles. The influence of Ni doping on the pseudo-capacitance of MnCo₂O₄ electrode was investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry in 6?M KOH electrolyte. We found that the spinel-type Mn_0.8Ni_0.2Co₂O₄ mesoporous microspheres exhibit specific capacitances of 1822 F g^?1 at a scan rate of 5?mV/s. Furthermore, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis revealed the low resistance and good electrochemical stability of the sample.     

NiFe2O4/SiO2 nanostructures as a potential electrode material for high rated supercapacitors

Engineered materials are crucial for the higher efficiency of supercapacitors. Current work presents roughly shaped spherical NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles dispersed in the SiO₂ matrix NiFe₂O₄/SiO₂ as a newfangled electrode material for supercapacitors with remarkable performance. Designing the NiFe₂O₄/SiO₂ nanostructure with a sol-gel method followed by the Stober method to grow silica has instigated NiFe₂O₄/SiO₂ as dynamic material with higher electrochemical activity. Physicochemical aspects of NiFe₂O₄/SiO₂ nanostructures are evaluated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analysis. The electrochemical activity is evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) representing the comparable efficiency and reversibility of the electrode materials. The prepared electrode shows a capacitance of 925 F/g (154.1 mAh/g or 555 C/g) at 1 A/g, with 95.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 20 mA/cm². The improved electrochemical performance of the NiFe₂O₄/SiO₂ electrode can be subjected to prompt diffusion process provided by NiFe₂O₄/SiO₂ and enhanced redox reactions owing to the high surface area. The mentioned features decrease the total impedance of the electrodes as suggested by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).     

Hydrothermal synthesis of reduced graphene oxide-Mn3O4 nanocomposite as an efficient electrode materials for supercapacitors

Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) are decorated with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO-Mn₃O₄) through a facile and eco-friendly hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized composite was characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and Raman spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties of (rGO-Mn₃O₄) nanocomposite were studied as electrode materials for supercapacitors. The rGO-Mn₃O₄ nanocomposite exhibit high specific capacitance of 457 Fg^?1 at 1.0 A/g in 1 M Na₂SO₄ aqueous electrolyte. The rGO-Mn₃O₄ exhibits good capacitance retention by achieving 91.6% of its initial capacitance after 5000 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the increased electrode conductivity in the presence of graphene network.     

Hydrothermal and soft-templating synthesis of mesoporous NiCo2O4 nanomaterials for high-performance electrochemical capacitors

Mesoporous nickel cobaltite (NiCo₂O₄) nanoparticles were synthesized via a hydrothermal and soft-templating method through quasi-reverse-micelle mechanism. The physicochemical properties of the NiCo₂O₄ materials were characterized via X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra, and nitrogen sorption isotherms measurements. The electrochemical performances of the NiCo₂O₄ electrode were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests. The obtained NiCo₂O₄ materials exhibit typical mesoporous structures, with an average particle size of about 200 nm, a specific surface area of 88.63 m² g^?1, and a total pore volume of 0.337 cm³ g^?1. The facile electrolytes penetration for the mesoporous structures favors high-performance of the NiCo₂O₄ electrode. The NiCo₂O₄ electrode shows a high specific capacitance (591 F g^?1 at 1 A g^?1), high-rate capability (248 F g^?1 at 20 A g^?1), and a good cycling behavior for tested 3,000 cycles, indicating a promising application for electrochemical capacitors.     

Resorcinol-formaldehyde based porous carbon as an electrode material for supercapacitors

Porous carbon materials were prepared using resorcinol and formaldehyde catalyzed by KOH in a sol-gel process followed by carbonization, during which the KOH serves as an activating agent and generates pores mainly located in the micropore range. With an increase of mass ratio of KOH to resorcinol from 1 to 4, both the specific surface area and the pore volume of the carbons increased, from 522 to 2760 m²/g and 0.304 to 1.347 cm³/g, respectively, but the average pore diameter decreased from 4.4 to 2.5 nm. Samples were investigated as electrode materials in supercapacitors and the relevant electrochemical behavior was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and constant current charge-discharge experiments using 30% KOH aqueous solution as electrolyte. The highest specific capacitance of up to 294 F/g was obtained at a current density 1 mA/cm² for the sample with mass ratio of KOH to resorcinol of 2. Only a slight decrease in capacitance for the same sample, from 294 to 242 F/g, was observed when the current density increased from 1 to 30 mA/cm². The specific capacitance only decayed 3% at a current density 30 mA/cm² after 1000 cycles, which indicates that the sample possesses excellent power property and cycle durability.     

Shell membrane-aided synthesis of 3D porous flower-like Co2(OH)3Cl-MnO2 hybrid composites for high performance supercapacitors

Three-dimensional (3D) flower-like Co₂(OH)₃Cl-MnO₂ nanostructures were fabricated inside eggshell through a facile and effective method. Inspired by semipermeable membranes, a shell membrane was selected as an interface for ion diffusion. In specific, an eggshell with shell membrane was employed as a multifunctional reactor to separate the components of the precursor solution. OH^- ion diffusion was performed through porous eggshell membrane. The electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the hybrid composite achieves high capacitance 3.709?F/cm² at 1?mA/cm² (2061?F/g with the mass loading of 1.8?mg/cm²) and an excellent cycling stability (71% specific capacitance retained after 5000 cycle numbers), exhibiting a superior electrochemical performance compared to pure Co₂(OH)₃Cl or MnO₂. Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor was assembled by Co₂(OH)₃Cl-MnO₂-2 and activated carbon as positive and negative electrode, respectively (Co₂(OH)₃Cl-MnO₂-2//AC ASC), which exhibits high capacitance (134.8?F/g at 0.2?A/g), excellent energy density (42.2?W?h/kg at 150.3?W/kg), and remarkable cycling stability (80% capacitance retention after consecutive 5000 cycle numbers).     

Preparation and electrochemical capacitance of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanotubes as supercapacitor material

Cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) nanotubes have been successfully synthesized by chemically depositing cobalt hydroxide in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates and thermally annealing at 500 °C. The synthesized nanotubes have been characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical capacitance behavior of the Co₃O₄ nanotubes electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge studies and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 6 mol L⁻¹ KOH solution. The electrochemical data demonstrate that the Co₃O₄ nanotubes display good capacitive behavior with a specific capacitance of 574 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹ and a good specific capacitance retention of ca. 95% after 1000 continuous charge-discharge cycles, indicating that the Co₃O₄ nanotubes can be promising electroactive materials for supercapacitor.     

Raspberry-like Ni/NiO/CoO/Mn3O4 hierarchical structures as novel electrode material for high-performance all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors

Hybrid transitional metals oxides have been attracted more and more attention in the field of supercapacitors. However, the design of structure and composition of materials is always a challenge due to tedious preparation process and difficult structure construction. Based on above issue, we construct novel raspberry-like Ni/NiO/CoO/Mn₃O₄ hierarchical structures (NNCMs) with excellent electrochemical performances by one-step hydrothermal process in this work. The introduction of metallic Ni and well-designed hierarchical structures can result in well improved conductivity for electrode material, sufficient channels and active sites for electrolyte ions to enter and contact with electrode material. The NNCMs-16 electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 1964 F g⁻¹ and superior cycling stability (95% of initial specific capacitance after 10000 cycles). The assembled NNCMs-16//AC device delivers outstanding energy densities of 70.4 Wh kg⁻¹ at power densities of 794.5 W kg⁻¹. Thus, the raspberry-like NNCMs-16 hierarchical structures can be regarded as promising materials for practical supercapacitors and this work also provides a valuable reference for the preparation and application of high performance electrode materials.     

Effects of specific surface area of electrode and different electrolyte on capacitance properties in nano porous-structure CrN thin film electrode for supercapacitor

Thickness and specific surface area of the film electrode are critical parameters for supercapacitors. The relationship between the thickness and the specific surface area of the film directly affects the capacitance and electrochemical stability performance of super supercapacitors, which virtually affects the contact chance of ion in the electrolyte on the surface of electrode and the ion transport path of electrode. In this paper, the CrN thin films with a thickness of 200–3500 nm are prepared using direct current magnetron sputtering. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique is introduced to investigate the relationship between thickness and the specific surface area of the CrN films. The electrochemical performances of CrN electrode with the nanoporousper structure is analyzed in different electrolytes H₂SO₄, Na₂SO₄ and NaCl aquous solutions. The specific surface area of the film increases linearly with the film thickness increases. The areal capacitance is also linearly related to the specific surface area. The spurtted CrN film with a thickness of 3370 nm has a specific surface of up to 43.59 cm² per cm² footprint area. Its areal and volume capacitances reache to 53.92 mF cm^?2 and 650 F cm^?3 at 5 mV s^?1, respectively. In addition, the areal capacitance of CrN film electrode with 655 nm possesses reaches to 40.53 mF cm^?2 for 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution, 32.69 mF cm^?2 for 0.5 M Na₂SO₄ solution and 9.17 mF cm^?2 for NaCl solution at a scan rate of 5 mV s^?1. Furthermore, the CrN film electrode exhibits excellent capacitance retention of 95.3%, 93.8% and 89.9% in H₂SO₄, Na₂SO₄ and NaCl electrolytes, respectively, after 2000 cycles. Therefore, the sputtered CrN thin film is an potential electrode material for electrochemical supercapacitors.     

Hierarchical porous NiCo2O4 nanomaterials with excellent cycling behavior for electrochemical capacitors via a hard-templating route

Hierarchical porous nickel cobaltite (NiCo₂O₄) nanomaterials were synthesized via a hard-templating route. The obtained materials consist of nanostructured cubic NiCo₂O₄ spinels and a spot of cubic NiO nanoparticles, and the materials display a typical hierarchical porous structure. The NiCo₂O₄ electrode displays quasireversible dynamics characteristics, mainly Faradaic capacitance behavior and capacitance relaxation feature. The NiCo₂O₄ electrode exhibits an excellent long cycling behavior with no capacitance decays during 5,000 cycles at a current density of 2?A?g^?1 in 1?M KOH electrolytes, and the NiCo₂O₄ electrode exhibits both high power and energy performances even after 5,000 cycles with respective value of 1,758?W?kg^?1 and 8.3?W?h?kg^?1 in 1?M KOH electrolytes, indicating that the NiCo₂O₄ nanomaterials are promising candidates for electrochemical capacitors.     

One-pot hydrothermal synthesis and supercapacitive performance of nitrogen and MnO co-doped hierarchical porous carbon monoliths

Nitrogen and MnO co-doped hierarchical porous carbon monolith (N-MnO-HPCM) materials were synthesized through a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The resulting N-MnO-HPCM materials had hierarchical porous structure, high BET surface area (606 m²/g), large pore volume (0.33 cm³/g), and contained evenly dispersed MnO nanoparticles of about 6 nm in the carbon matrix. Their electrochemical performances as electrodes for supercapacitors were investigated. N-MnO-HPCM material exhibited an excellent electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance of 261.7 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. It also showed a good rate capability with 74% capacity retention at high current density (5 A/g), indicating its potential applications in supercapacitors.     

Macroporous defective tungsten oxide nanostructure electrodes deliver ultrahigh capacitance and remarkable long cyclic durability in LiCl electrolyte

Tungsten oxide (WO₃) has been considered as an fascinating candidate for supercapacitors (SCs) material because of its desirable physico-chemical properties and electrochemical behaviors. Nevertheless, it is still a significant challenge to enhance its electrochemical properties and stability. Herein, we report an electroreduction strategy to fabricate the macroporous defective tungsten oxide nanostructure (ER-WO₃) as a negative electrode material with outstanding electrochemical behavior and remarkable cycling durability in 5?M LiCl aqueous electrolyte, which attributes to the introduction of oxygen deficiencies. The ER-WO₃ electrode exhibits a large areal capacitance of 244.7?mF?cm^?2 and an ultrahigh gravimetric specific capacitance of 266.6?F?g^?1 at scan rate of 50?mV?s^?1. More importantly, the ER-WO₃ product also delivers an ultralong cyclic stability with 97.4% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. Such these optimized properties of the ER-WO₃ nanostructure electrode will promote its applications in the field of science and technology.     

ZIF-derived wrinkled Co3O4 polyhedra supported on 3D macroporous carbon sponge for supercapacitor electrode

Co₃O₄/melamine-derived carbon sponge (MCS) nanocomposite in which wrinkled ball-in-dodecahedral Co₃O₄ nanoparticles derived from ZIF-67 were homogeneously dispersed on the interconnected MSC was fabricated via a simple immersion and thermolysis route. As-prepared ultralight Co₃O₄/MCS possessed mechanically robust characteristic and unique 3D macroporous framework anchored with corrugated Co₃O₄ dodecahedra. Utilized as a pseudocapacitor electrode, Co₃O₄/MCS hybrid exhibited a great specific capacitance of 1409.5 F g⁻¹ at the current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹ and excellent long-term cycling stability of 93.2% after 1000 charge/discharge cycles, which might be ascribed to the synergistic effect of the inherent high redox activity from Co₃O₄ polyhedra combined with excellent electrical conductivity of MCS. This work demonstrates that tunable structure design and rational morphology control are efficient approaches for manufacturing novel electrode materials with extraordinary electrochemical performance.