Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of cobalt vanadate nanoparticles for supercapacitor applications

Abstract

Recently, cobalt and vanadium-based transition metal electrodes have found increased demand in energy storage applications. A simple hydrothermal method is used to synthesize the cobalt vanadate (Co2V2O7) nanomaterials, followed by calcination at 450 °C in an air environment. The nanocomposite thus prepared was examined by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. According to the XRD, the synthesized Co2V2O7 nanoparticles showed a monoclinic crystal structure with an average crystallite size of 25.14 nm. The nanocomposite obtained from the hydrothermal synthesis had an average size of 37.3 nm, and it was observed that the nanoparticle's zeta potential was −61.2 mV showing excellent dispersion and durability. Cyclic voltammetry was employed to investigate the Co2V2O7 nanocomposites electrochemical performance. The nanocomposite exhibited a specific capacitance of 148.5 F g−1. It was demonstrated that synthesized Co2V2O7 nanoparticles could potentially result in a future application for energy storage devices like supercapacitor.