Influence of temperature on the preparation of CoFe2O4 by the sol-gel method and its application in electrochemical energy storage

Abstract

CoFe2O4 particles were successfully synthesized by a sol-gel proteic route in three different temperatures, and their structural and morphological properties were studied in detail. The XRD pattern results confirmed CoFe2O4 formation with some residual second phase of αCo–Fe in low temperature calcined materials. FTIR spectra showed the strong absorption bands in the range of 440 to 650 cm−1, which are related to Fe–O and Fe–Co bonds. SEM images illustrated that the cobalt ferrite particles exhibit a porous structure are formed by a hexagonal morphology. It was observed that the increase of calcination temperature resulted in more crystalline and better organized materials. CoFe2O4 specific capacity was 76.52 mA h g−1at current density of 1 Ag−1. This was the best result obtained with the 1000 °C material, which was based on the fact that temperature has a great influence on the electrochemical response of cobalt ferrite synthesized by proteic sol gel. It was also observed that 75% of the initial capacity remains the same for 5000 continuous cyclic voltammetry at the scan rate of 25 mVs−1which confirms the superior performance of the prepared electrode as energy storage material.