Nano-Fe3O4/Carbon Nanotubes Composites by One-Pot Microwave Solvothermal Method for Supercapacitor Applications

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are being increasingly studied as electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs) due to their high electronic conductivity and chemical and mechanical stability. However, their energy density and specific capacitance have not reached the commercial stage due to their electrostatic charge storage system via a non-faradic mechanism. Moreover, magnetite (Fe3O4) exhibits higher specific capacitance originating from its pseudocapacitive behaviour, while it has irreversible volume expansion during cycling. Therefore, a very interesting and facile strategy to arrive at better performance and stability is to integrate CNTs and Fe3O4. In this study, we demonstrate the microwave-solvothermal process for the synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles uniformly grown on a CNT composite as an electrode for SCs. The synthesized Fe3O4/CNT composite delivers a reversible capacitance of 187.1 F/g at 1 A/g, superior rate capability by maintaining 61.6% of 10 A/g (vs. 1 A/g), and cycling stability of 80.2% after 1000 cycles at 1 A/g.

Magnetite Nanoparticles In-Situ Grown and Clustered on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Supercapacitor Electrodes

“…It can be seen that pure Fe 3 O 4 [ 9 , 10 , 11 ] has limited specific capacitance and cycle stability than its carbonaceous composites, owing to its limited electrical conductivity and agglomeration characteristics. Moreover, Fe 3 O 4 composited with RGO [ 14 , 15 , 21 , 26 ] generally exhibits better performance, since RGO possesses a larger specific surface area than other carbonaceous forms [ 12 , 13 ]. Considering the complicated procedures to synthesize samples in the literature, the as-prepared Fe 3 O 4 /RGO nanocomposites are easy to obtain with comparable capacitance and stability.…”

“…Nanostructured Fe 3 O 4 composited with carbonaceous materials has been reported as an effective strategy that may offer higher energy density with larger specific capacitance. For instance, Fe 3 O 4 composited with carbon nanotubes, exhibited improved cyclic stability and energy density in contrast to those of pure Fe 3 O 4 [ 12 ]. The specific capacity of 275.9 F g −1 was acquired at 0.5 A g −1 in Na 2 SO 4 aqueous solution for carbon-coated Fe 3 O 4 composites [ 13 ].…”

Facile synthesis of novel SrO 0.5:MnO 0.5 bimetallic oxide nanostructure as a high-performance electrode material for supercapacitors

“…73.4% of the initial capacitance was retained at the end of 1000 GCD cycles which is comparable to some of the previously published metal-oxide composite based electrodes. [59][60][61] As the number of cycles increases, the capacitance decreases and logically it should either keep decreasing or reach certain saturation. However, in most cases we observe fluctuation in capacitance retention percentage over cycles.…”