ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Investigation on structural, optical and electrochemical behavior of NiO/ZnMn₂O₄ ternary nanocomposites via two-step synthesis approach for supercapacitor application

C. Lydia pearline, M. John Abel, A. Pramothkumar, N. Senthilkumar, P. Anbalagan, and J. Joseph prince

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, University College of Engineering, Bharathidasan Institute of Technology Campus, Anna University, Tiruchirappalli, India

E-mail: anbutau@gmail.com

Received: 27 February 2020  Accepted: 18 June 2020

Abstract:

The present investigation deals with the synthesis of nickel oxide (NiO)/zinc manganite (ZnMn₂O₄) nanocomposites (NCs) by a two-step approach. The powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern revealed the existence of face-centered cubic (FCC) phase of NiO and tetragonal rutile phase structure of ZnMn₂O₄ in NiO/ZnMn₂O₄ NCs. The optical properties of NiO/ZnMn₂O₄NCs have been investigated by the UV-diffuse reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) spectral analysis. The surface morphology and elemental composition of NiO/ZnMn₂O₄NCs was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDX) analysis. The surface area and the nature of porosity of the samples were analyzed using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method. The electrochemical properties were investigated from the cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. In 0.5 M potassium hydroxide (KOH) electrolyte solution, NiO/ZnMn₂O₄NCs exhibited higher specific capacitance of 886 F/g at a current density of 1Ag⁻¹ with high cyclic stability over 1000 charge–discharging cycles. Thus, the result demonstrates that the prepared NiO/ZnMn₂O₄NCs is a promising electrode material for future energy-storage devices.

Keywords: Two-step approach; NiO/ZnMn2O4 NCs; Optical and electrochemical behavior

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-020-01258-3

Chemical Papers 75 (2) 641–651 (2021)