Rice-Like ZnO Architecture: An Eminent Electrode Material for High-Performance Ultracapacitor Application

Abstract

In this investigation, the rice-like ZnO material was successfully synthesized using the CTAB assisted chemical co-precipitation method followed by a probable annealing process. The internal structure, thermal properties, phase studies, and morphological features were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques, respectively. The CTAB serves as a template that influences the fabrication process and exclusively alters ZnO materials’ morphological features. The high concentration of the CTAB (2 mM) template provides a rice-like ZnO structure. The synthesized ZnO material’s electrochemical properties were inspected using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge studies (GCD). The CV curves provide a specific capacitance of 457 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mVs−1, whereas the GCD curves affirm a specific capacitance of 449 F g−1 at a current density of 1 Ag−1. Furthermore, it also exhibits high cyclic stability with 94% of the initial capacitance retained even after continuous 2000 CV cycles at a scan rate of 100 mV s−1. These results signify that the rice-like ZnO material could be a significant postulant for ultra-capacitor electrode applications.