Synthesis and Characteristics of Mesoporous Copper Cobalt Oxides Using the Inverse Micelle Method Fabricated for Supercapacitors.

Abstract

Mesoporous materials have gained considerable attention in the fabrication of supercapacitor electrodes because of their large surface areas and controlled porosities. This study reports the synthesis of mesoporous CuCo2O4 powders using the inverse micelle method. X-ray diffraction, N2 sorption measurement, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to investigate the properties of the powders. After heat treatment at 250 °C in a vacuum atmosphere, the mesoporous CuCo2O4 powders exhibited a large specific surface area of 116.32 m2 g-1 and a high crystallinity. The electrode fabricated by using the as-prepared mesoporous CuCo2O4 powder exhibited enhanced electrical properties with a maximum specific capacitance of 140 F g-1 and capacitance retention of 91.4% after 3000 continuous charge-discharge cycles. Therefore, the as-prepared mesoporous CuCo2O4 powders hold great potential in the fabrication of supercapacitor electrodes to be used for a wide range of electrochemical applications.