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Synthesis of NiCo2O4/mesoporous carbon composites for supercapacitor electrodes

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Abstract

In this study, nickel cobaltite/mesoporous carbon composites are synthesized by reacting CoCl2, Ni (NO3)2 and nitric acid-treated biogas slurry mesoporous carbon using urea as hydrolyzing agent and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant. The presence of Ni, Co, C and O peaks in the EDX results confirm that the composites are successfully synthesized. Interestingly at 350 °C, the composite surface morphology switched to cross-linked nanoflake structures interconnected with mesoporous carbon. The X-ray diffraction analysis of the NiCo2O4/mesoporous carbon composites reveals that the spinel structure of the NiCo2O4 is maintained in the composites. The nitrogen uptake increases with increasing annealing temperature to 300 °C then decreases at higher temperature (400 °C). The type IV isotherms are exhibited by all the composites. The contribution of mesopores increases with increasing annealing temperature: 32% for BC-NCo-200, 41% for BC-NCo-250, 56% for BC-NCo-300, 66% for BC-NCo-350 and 86% for BC-NCo-400. The NiCo2O4/mesoporous carbon composites exhibit high specific capacitance of 835 F g−1 at scan rate of 5 mV s−1 for sample annealed at 350 °C. The cyclic stabilities of the electrodes are above 90% after 50,000 cycles indicating that the synthesized composites are suitable candidates for supercapacitors.

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Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the support from Government of Republic of Tanzania through Tanzania Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH), Mkwawa University College of Education. Hanyang University (South Korea) is also acknowledged for the SEM, TEM, BET and XRD characterization of the samples.

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  1. Department of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Mkwawa University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, P. O. Box 2513, Iringa, Tanzania

    Talam Enock Kibona

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Kibona, T.E. Synthesis of NiCo2O4/mesoporous carbon composites for supercapacitor electrodes. J Solid State Electrochem 24, 1587–1598 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-020-04673-4

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