Effect of conducting polymer incorporated heterostructure morphology of MgCo₂O₄@PPy nanosheets: a novel cathode material for asymmetric supercapacitor applications

In this study,the facile hydrothermal synthesis of Magnesium–cobalttite MgCo₂O₄ spinel with different morphologies, such as nanosheets and nanospheres has been investigated. The structural, morphological, textural, and chemical composition of the materials were examined using powdered X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transition electron mictroscopy (TEM), N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The produced materials have heterostructure morphology with a nanospherical surface-coated nanosheet-like morphology that is clearly visible in the results of FESEM and TEM. The results of N2 adsorption–desorption reveal that MgCo₂O₄@PPy has a larger specific area of 103 m² g⁻¹ than MgCo₂O₄, which has a specific area of 73 m²g⁻¹. The synthesized electrode material with inventive nanoarchitectures showed attractive electrochemical performance in a variety of applications. The heterostructure MgCo₂O₄@Ppy electrode produced an impressive capacitive retention of 93% at current density 5 Ag⁻¹ and a high specific capacitacne of 988 Fg⁻¹ after 10,000 cycles. The assembled ASC cell MgCo₂O₄@Ppy//AC provided remarkable high capacitance retention of 84% after 10,000 cycles at 5 Ag⁻¹, intensely high energy density of 40 Whkg⁻¹, and power density of 1544 Wkg⁻¹.