Microwave-irradiated novel mesoporous nickel oxide carbon nanocomposite electrodes for supercapacitor application

The present work accentuates the aspects of electrochemical analysis determined by cyclic voltammeter (CV), especially enhancement in supercapacitor's specific capacitance and energy density. In this work, nickel oxide (NiO) and nickel oxide @ reduced graphene oxide (NiO@rGO) nanocomposite materials used as electrodes were synthesized by the microwave irradiation method. Performance of the synthesized material was further characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscope, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface-area, thermo gravimetric analysis, and CV. Furthermore, the electrochemical performance of active material at three different molarities (2 M, 4 M and 6 M) of potassium hydroxide as an electrolyte is analyzed, and observed decline in specific capacitance for synthesized nanocomposite materials in a lower state of electrolyte concentration. Accordingly, specific capacitances at 1 A/g are 270 F/g, 395 F/g at 1 A/g current density, and energy densities of 10.2 Wh/kg, 17.55 Wh/kg are observed for NiO and NiO@rGO, respectively, at 6 M KOH.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the electrochemical analysis of nickel oxide and nickel oxide@reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite materials as electrodes, revealing the impact of different electrolyte concentrations on specific capacitance and energy density. The synthesized materials were characterized using various techniques, showing different performance at varying molarities of potassium hydroxide electrolyte.