Copper substituted nickel ferrite nanoparticles anchored onto the graphene sheets as electrode materials for supercapacitors fabrication

Abstract

Nickel ferrites with high theoretical capacitance value as compared to the other metal oxides have been applied as electrode material for energy storage devices i.e. batteries and supercapacitors. High tendency towards aggregation and less specific surface area make the metal oxides poor candidate for electrochemical applications. Therefore, the improvements in the electrochemical properties of nickel ferrites (NiFe2O4) are required. Here, we report the synthesis of graphene nano-sheets decorated with spherical copper substituted nickel ferrite nanoparticles for supercapacitors electrode fabrication. The copper substituted and unsubstituted NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were prepared via wet chemical co-precipitation route. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was prepared via well-known Hummer's method. After structural characterization of both ferrite (Ni1-xCuxFe2O4) nanoparticles and rGO, the ferrite particles were decorated onto the graphene sheets to obtain Ni1-xCuxFe2O4@rGO nanocomposites. The confirmation of preparation of these nanocomposites was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochemical measurements of nanoparticles and their nanocomposites (Ni0.9Cu0.1Fe2O4@rGO) confirmed that the nanocomposites due to highly conductive nature and relatively high surface area showed better capacitive behavior as compared to bare nanoparticles. This enhanced electrochemical energy storage properties of nanocomposites were attributed to the graphene and also supported by electrical (I-V) measurements. The cyclic stability experiments results showed ~65% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles. However this retention was enhanced from 65% to 75% for the copper substituted nanoparticles (Ni0.9Cu0.1Fe2O4) and 65–85% for graphene based composites. All this data suggest that these nanoparticles and their composites can be utilized for supercapacitors electrodes fabrication.