Low-temperature microwave hydrothermally synthesized Mn-doped NiCo2O4 nanoparticles: enhanced structural and electrochemical properties

Abstract

The energy storage capacity of a material is primarily influenced by its specific capacitance. A series of MnxNi1-xCo2O4 at x = 0.0 -0.10 was prepared using the low-temperature microwave hydrothermal (M-H) method at 160 0 C, and the synthesised samples were sintered at 750 °C for 4 h. The samples were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. It is observed from X-ray diffraction that all the samples have a cubic topology belonging to the space group Fd-3m, and the average lattice constant varies from 8.049 to 8.074. The average particle size of all samples is in the range of 92 nm to 315 nm. The valence states of Mn 2+ , Mn 3+ , Ni 2+ , Ni 3+ , Co 2+ , and Co 3+ were confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical studies using CV, GCD, and EIS were performed on all the samples. A high specific capacitance (Csp) of 490 Fg −1 and high energy density and power density were reported for Mn0.06Ni0.94Co2O4, showing good electrochemical properties that are useful for supercapacitor applications.