Tuning the electrochemical performance of binary CuFe2O4 incorporated by ZnO nanoparticles for high performance hybrid supercapacitors

Abstract

Developing magnetic nanomaterials with exceptional electrochemical activities is the cutting edge in the fields of advanced supercapacitor applications. Herein, the binary copper ferrite nanocomposite has been prepared by a cost-effective co-precipitation method and their electrochemical activity has been enhanced by incorporating the different molar concentrations of zinc oxide nanoparticles in its lattice. Zinc oxide incorporated copper ferrite nanocomposite (Zn-CFO-1 NC) electrode delivers the maximum specific capacity of about 409.7 C/g at the sweep rate of 10 mV/s. The charge storage mechanism has been revealed by the Trasatti method, delivering the total, outer, and inner capacities of Zn-CFO-1 of 826.4, 41.0, and 784.4 C/g respectively along with the diffusion and capacitive contributions of 95% and 5% correspondingly. The supercapacitor device (SCD) has been fabricated by Zn-CFO-1 as cathode and activated carbon (AC) anode in 3 M KOH as an electrolytic medium, which provides the maximum energy density of about 17.8 Wh/kg and their maximum power density of about 3125 W/kg.