High electrochemical performance of Co₃O₄-PVDF-NMP-based supercapacitor electrode

The harvesting of renewable energy storage has prompted extensive study on the energy storage devices, chiefly batteries and supercapacitors. Electrodes made up of nano-architecture arrays are promising candidate to strengthen the electrochemical performance of the energy storage devices. In this work, nano-sized Co₃O₄ materials have been prepared by facile coprecipitate technique. The materials were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDAX, HR-TEM and XPS. The TEM studies confirmed the existence of nano-rods of length ranges from 50 to 160 nm. The electrochemical studies were carried out using three-electrode system. The Co₃O₄ electrode material exhibited prominent specific capacitance of 373.84 F g⁻¹ at the current density of 1.5 A g⁻¹ with superior cyclic stability of 92% after 1000 cycles. The Co₃O₄ nanorods are attributed to high surface to volume ratio which results in more provisions for active sites and in turn enhance the redox reactions. Also the EIS studies reveal the diffusive charge transfer mechanism that enhances the accumulation of charges. The results imply that Co₃O₄ nanoparticles would be a promising material for electrodes in supercapacitors.