H2O2 assisted hydrothermal and microwave synthesis of CuO–NiO hybrid MWCNT composite electrode materials for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

A series of hetero-metal oxide/CNT nanocomposites containing CuO–NiO/CNTs are prepared by simple hydrothermal and microwave methods. Among the prepared composites, the synergistic effect between the hetero-metal oxides and metal oxide/CNT composites on their surface morphology and electrochemical behaviour is investigated by varying the amount (0:1, 0.5:1, and 1:1) of CNT with metal oxide. Structural investigation of the composites reveals the hetero-metal oxide/CNT nanocomposite formation. Surface morphological studies of the prepared hetero-metal oxide/CNT nanocomposites through microscopic methods reveal the presence of nanoparticles along with nanosheet-like morphology. Electrochemical studies for the CuO–NiO/CNT composite were investigated using a three-electrode system. From the electrochemical studies, CuO–NiO/CNT nanocomposites prepared by hydrothermal and microwave methods showed a maximum of 581.3 and 489.6 F g−1 specific capacitance @ 1 A g−1 current density, respectively. Furthermore, a stability study for the prepared composite as electrode material indicates that all the electrode materials have shown >75% initial specific capacitance over 2000 cycling at 10 A/g current density.