Electrochemical behaviour of ZnO–AC based nanocomposite electrode for supercapacitor

Abstract

In this article, synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and the formation of a nanocomposite with activated charcoal (AC) as an electrode material for supercapacitor applications are discussed. The nanoparticles of size approximately 25.5 nm are prepared at room temperature by a co-precipitation method. The calcination temperature for the phase formation is observed to be 600 °C. The supercapacitor fabricated with the synthesised nanocomposite (ZnO–AC) and 1 M Na2SO4 as an electrolyte results into the specific capacitance of 106.1 mF cm−2. The equivalent single electrode specific capacitance for the same supercapacitor is about 68.2 F g−1. Materials are characterized with the help of synchrotron x-ray diffraction (SXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical characterization. The study proposes the use of nanocomposite (ZnO–AC) as an electrode material for energy storage devices such as supercapacitor.