Solvothermal Synthesis of Copper Ferrite-Graphene Nanocomposite As a Supercapacitor Electrode Material

Abstract

In recent years, electrochemical supercapacitors have attracted great attention due to their advantages of short charging times, a long cycle, and high power density. In order to fullfill the market demand for further improved performance, the design of materials with a longer cycling lifetime, higher energy density and economic efficiency is imperative for supercapacitor electrode. Since the performance of electrode materials for supercapacitors is dependent on the accessible specific surface area and the pore structure, the control over structure and morphology of electrode materials is an effective strategy to render them high surface area and efficient paths for ion diffusion. Recently, the applications of graphene based nanocomposites for supercapacitor have attracted much research interest. Here, a simple method to prepare a uniform sized copper ferrite nanoparticles attached graphene nanosheet is reported. A one-step solvothermal method featuring the reduction of graphene oxide and formation of copper ferrite nanoparticles was efficient, green, and controllable. The composite nanosheet was characterized by using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which demonstrated that the copper ferrite nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 100 nm were densely and compactly deposited on graphene nanosheet. To investigate the formation mechanism of the copper ferrite nanoparticles attached graphene nanosheet, the effects of a series of experimental parameters, including the concentrations of the precursor, precipitation agent, stabilizer agent, and graphene oxide on the size and morphology of the resulting products were discussed in detail. Furthermore, the electrochemical performances of the copper ferrite nanoparticles attached graphene nanosheet as electrode material for supercapacitor were studied by using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. The nanocomposite showed high electrochemical capacitance of 576.6 F/g at 1 A/g, good rate performance and cycling stability. These results demonstrated that the nanocomposite had a high specific capacitance and good retention. The versatile copper ferrite-graphene nanocomposite held great promise for a wide range of electrochemical fields due to the remarkable synergistic effects between copper ferrite nanoparticles and graphene.