Novel nanocomposite of MnFe2O4 and nitrogen-doped carbon from polyaniline carbonization as electrode material for symmetric ultra-stable supercapacitor

Fabrication of composite GO/NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4 anode material: Toward high performance hybrid supercapacitors

Here, NiFe2O4, MnFe2O4, and CoFe2O4 nanoferrites are prepared by coprecipitation synthesis technique from nickel, manganese, and cobalt chloride precursors. Synthesized nanoferrites are annealed by calcination process at 800°C for 2 h. To produce a novel anode electrode material for asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs), the composite material of GO/NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4 is fabricated. Physicochemical aspects of the synthesized nanoferrites are evaluated. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy tests are conducted, respectively. The electrochemical activities are studied by cyclic voltammetry, glavanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 2 M KOH as the electrolyte. In three electrode system, the novel GO/NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4 electrode displays a high specific capacity of 325 C g-1 and preserves about 99.9% of its initial specific capacity. The GO/NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4//GO ASCs device is assembled using GO/NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4, GO, and 2 M KOH solution as the positive electrode, negative electrode, and electrolyte, respectively. Significantly, the GO/NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4//GO ASCs represent an outstanding energy density of 50.5 W h kg-1 at power density of 2560 W kg-1. Through the long-term charge discharge cycling tests, this ASC device illustrates about 93.7% capacity retention after 3000 cycles. Then, the present study provides the NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4 composite nanoferrites as a novel favorable candidate for anode material. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Simple and green synthesis of magnetic NiCo2O4/NiO/rGO composite nanostructure using natural precursor. Fabricating and designing an efficient semiconductor for degradation ability. NiCo2O4/NiO/rGO nanocomposite with advanced photo elimination catalytic routine. The photocatalytic performance of NiCo2O4/NiO/rGO was surveyed for the degradation of various antibiotics below visible radiation. Efficiency was 92.9% to eliminate tetracycline. We developed a synergetic approach to prepare a novel active material composed of GO/ NiFe2O4-MnFe2O4-CoFe2O4 by a hybrid electrode material. Green synthesis method was accomplished to attain NiCo2O4/NiO/rGO nanocomposite with advanced photo elimination catalytic routine. The oxide nanobundles were prepared with a rapid and eco-friendly method. In order to investigation of the effect of natural precursor, morphology and shape of nanoproducts was compared. NiCo2O4/NiO/rGO nanobundles possess a suitable bandgap in the visible area.

Magnesium Bismuth Ferrite Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanomagnetic Perovskite: Synthesis and Characterization as a High-Performance Electrode in a Supercapacitor for Energy Storage

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃) is regarded as an important ABO₃ perovskite in the areas of energy storage and electronics. A high-performance novel MgBiFeO₃-NC nanomagnetic composite (MBFO-NC) electrode was prepared using a perovskite ABO₃-inspired method as a supercapacitor for energy storage. The electrochemical behavior of the perovskite BiFeO₃ has been enhanced by magnesium ion doping in the basic aquatic electrolyte as the A-site. H₂-TPR revealed that the doping of Mg²⁺ ions at the Bi³⁺ sites minimizes the oxygen vacancy content and improves the electrochemical characteristics of MgBiFeO₃-NC. Various techniques were used to confirm the phase, structure, surface, and magnetic properties of the MBFO-NC electrode. The prepared sample showed an enhanced mantic performance and specific area with an average nanoparticle size of ∼15 nm. The electrochemical behavior of the three-electrode system was shown by cyclic voltammetry to have a significant specific capacity of 2079.44 F/g at 30 mV/s in 5 M KOH electrolyte. GCD analysis at a 5 A/g current density also showed an enhanced capacity improvement of 2159.88 F/g, which is 3.4× higher than that of pristine BiFeO₃. At the power density of 5284.83 W/kg, the constructed MBFO-NC//MBFO-NC symmetric cell showed an exceptional energy density of 730.04 W h/kg. The MBFO-NC//MBFO-NC symmetric cell was employed as a direct practical application of the electrode material to entirely brighten the laboratory panel, which had 31 LEDs. This work proposes the utilization of duplicate cell electrodes made of MBFO-NC//MBFO-NC in portable devices for daily use.

Biomimetic Construction of Ferrite Quantum Dot/Graphene Heterostructure for Enhancing Ion/Charge Transfer in Supercapacitors

Spinel ferrites are regarded as promising electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs) in virtue of their low cost and high theoretical specific capacitances. However, bulk ferrites suffer from limited electrical conductivity, sluggish ion transport, and inadequate active sites. Therefore, rational structural design and composition regulation of the ferrites are approaches to overcome these limitations. Herein, a general biomimetic mineralization synthetic strategy is proposed to synthesize ferrite (XFe₂ O₄ , X = Ni, Co, Mn) quantum dot/graphene (QD/G) heterostructures. Anchoring ferrite QD on the graphene sheets not only strengthens the structural stability, but also forms the electrical conductivity network needed to boost the ion diffusion and charge transfer. The optimized NiFe₂ O₄ QD/G heterostructure exhibits specific capacitances of 697.5 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 , and exceptional cycling performance. Furthermore, the fabricated symmetrical SCs deliver energy densities of 24.4 and 17.4 Wh kg^-1 at power densities of 499.3 and 4304.2 W kg^-1 , respectively. Density functional theory calculations indicate the combination of NiFe₂ O₄ QD and graphene facilitates the adsorption of potassium atoms, ensuring rapid ion/charge transfer. This work enriches the application of the biomimetic mineralization synthesis and provides effective strategies for boosting ion/charge transfer, which may offer a new way to develop advanced electrodes for SCs.

Nanostructured Conducting Polymers and Their Applications in Energy Storage Devices

Due to the energy requirements for various human activities, and the need for a substantial change in the energy matrix, it is important to research and design new materials that allow the availability of appropriate technologies. In this sense, together with proposals that advocate a reduction in the conversion, storage, and feeding of clean energies, such as fuel cells and electrochemical capacitors energy consumption, there is an approach that is based on the development of better applications for and batteries. An alternative to commonly used inorganic materials is conducting polymers (CP). Strategies based on the formation of composite materials and nanostructures allow outstanding performances in electrochemical energy storage devices such as those mentioned. Particularly, the nanostructuring of CP stands out because, in the last two decades, there has been an important evolution in the design of various types of nanostructures, with a strong focus on their synergistic combination with other types of materials. This bibliographic compilation reviews state of the art in this area, with a special focus on how nanostructured CP would contribute to the search for new materials for the development of energy storage devices, based mainly on the morphology they present and on their versatility to be combined with other materials, which allows notable improvements in aspects such as reduction in ionic diffusion trajectories and electronic transport, optimization of spaces for ion penetration, a greater number of electrochemically active sites and better stability in charge/discharge cycles.

New Inverse Emulsion-Polymerized Iron/Polyaniline Composites for Permanent, Highly Magnetic Iron Compounds via Calcination

The hydrophilic initiator potassium persulfate (KPS) was converted into a hydrophobic molecule by complexing with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at both ends of the molecule (CTAPSu). Inverse emulsion polymerization thus proceeded inside micelles dispersed in the affluent toluene with CTAPSu as the initiator. Polyaniline (PANI) formed inside the micelles and entangled with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles already esterified with oleic acid (OA). Iron composites consisted of OA-esterified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles covered with PANI after de-emulsification. After calcination at 950 °C in an argon atmosphere, the resultant iron compound was a mixture of α-Fe (ferrite) and Fe₃C (cementite), as determined by X-ray diffraction. Eventually, the calcined iron compounds (mixtures) demonstrated superparamagnetic properties with a high saturation magnetization (Ms) of 197 emu/g, which decayed to 160 emu/g after exposure to the atmosphere for four months.

Superparamagnetic, High Magnetic α-Fe & α″-Fe16N2 Mixture Prepared from Inverse Suspension-Polymerized Fe3O4@polyaniline Composite

Oleic acid (OA)-modified Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were successfully covered with polyanilines (PANIs) via inverse suspension polymerization in accordance with SEM and TEM micrographs. The obtained nanoparticles were able to develop into a ferrite (α-Fe) and α″-Fe₁₆N₂ mixture with a superparamagnetic property and high saturated magnetization (SM) of 245 emu g⁻¹ at 950 °C calcination under the protection of carbonization materials (calcined PANI) and other iron-compounds (α″-Fe₁₆N₂). The SM of the calcined iron-composites slightly decreases to 232 emu g⁻¹ after staying in the open air for 3 months. The calcined mixture composite can be ground into homogeneous powders without the segregation of the iron and carbon phases in the mortar without significantly losing magnetic activities.

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon encapsulating iron nanoparticles for enhanced sulfathiazole removal via peroxymonosulfate activation

Developing novel catalyst with both high efficiency and stability presents an enticing prospect for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. In this paper, nitrogen-doped porous carbon encapsulating iron nanoparticles (CN-Fe) was fabricated by a facile carbothermal reduction process using polyaniline (PANI) and α-Fe₂O₃ as the precursors. The stubborn antibiotics, sulfathiazole (STZ), was employed as a target pollutant, demonstrating that CN-Fe coupled with PMS could achieve 96% removal efficiency and even 57% mineralization rate of STZ within 40 min. More importantly, the rate constant of CN-Fe was calculated to be 0.07665 min^-1, which was 6 times higher than that of the commercial α-Fe₂O₃ catalyst. Furthermore, CN-Fe also presented a favorable catalytic performance for removing other organic pollutants including phenolic compounds and organic dyes. Interestingly, the catalytic activity of the used CN-Fe catalyst could be regenerated after thermal treatment (600 °C) and the as-synthesized CN-Fe catalyst exhibited excellent long-term stability with almost no loss of activity after storage for three months. The catalytic mechanism in the CN-Fe/PMS system was elucidated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), radical and electron trapping tests, which confirmed that sulfate radicals (SO₄^-), hydroxyl radicals (OH), superoxide radicals (O₂^-) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂) were generated in the oxidation process with the assistance of electron transfer between PMS and catalyst. To our knowledge, this was the first attempt for the application of PANI-derived CN-Fe hybrid materials as PMS activators and the findings would provide a simple and promising strategy to fabricate highly efficient and environment-benign catalysts for wastewater remediation.

Synthesis of zinc sulfide/copper sulfide/porous carbonized cotton nanocomposites for flexible supercapacitor and recyclable photocatalysis with high performance

The composite material composed of zinc sulfide, copper sulfide and porous carbon is prepared in this study, exhibiting excellent performances in the field of supercapacitor electrode and photocatalysts. In the degradation process of organic pollutants, zinc sulfide/copper sulfide with heterostructure effectively reduce the recombination rate of photo-generated electron-hole pairs. And the porous carbon substrate can not only accelerate the separation of photo-carriers but also provide numerous active sites. Furthermore, the sample can be easily separated after decomposing the organic pollutants. As a supercapacitor electrode, the combination of zinc sulfide/copper sulfide with large pseudo-capacitance and porous carbon material with excellent double-layercapacitance results in superior electrochemical performances. The composite electrode shows a high specific capacitance of 1925 mF cm^-2/0.53 mAh cm^-2 at 4 mA cm^-2. And the symmetric flexible supercapacitor based on the composite electrode achieves an outstanding energy density (0.39 Wh cm^-2 at the power density of 4.32 W cm^-2). Therefore, the zinc sulfide/copper sulfide/porous carbonized cotton nanocomposites (pCZCS) prepared herein exhibit dual functions of photocatalysts with high efficiency as well as energy storage materials with high energy density, which is interesting and important for expanding the practical applications in cross fields.

Moderate oxygen-deficient Fe(III) oxide nanoplates for high performance symmetric supercapacitors

As a promising anode material for supercapacitors, Fe₂O₃ has been widely studied but still face the problem of low conductivity. Inducing oxygen vacancy (Vo) into Fe₂O₃ is a widely used approach to tune the conductivity to enhance its capacitive performance, but there is little research on the influence of Vo content. Herein, we report the effect of Vo in Fe₂O₃ nanoplates with various content. We tuned the Vo content by annealing at 200-500 °C. XPS and EPR were taken to characterize the Vo content, ranging from 11% to 26%. Electrochemical results show that FO-300 with 17% Vo has the highest capacity of 301 mAh g^-1, and the capacity of the highest Vo content's (26% Vo) is only 107 mAh g^-1. The symmetric supercapacitor based on FO-300 shows a considerably high energy density of 58.5 Wh kg^-1 at a power density of 9.32 kW kg^-1 and remains 84.6% after 12,000 cycles.

Design and Regulation of Novel MnFe2O4@C Nanowires as High Performance Electrode for Supercapacitor

Bimetallic oxides have been considered as potential candidates for supercapacitors due to their relatively high electric conductivity, abundant redox reactions and cheapness. However, nanoparticle aggregation and huge volume variation during charging-discharging procedures make it hard for them to be applied widely. In this work, one-dimensional (1D) MnFe₂O₄@C nanowires were in-situ synthesized via a simply modified micro-emulsion technique, followed by thermal treatment. The novel 1D and core-shell architecture, and in-situ carbon coating promote its electric conductivity and porous feature. Due to these advantages, the MnFe₂O₄@C electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 824 F·g⁻¹ at 0.1 A·g⁻¹ and remains 476 F·g⁻¹ at 5 A·g⁻¹. After 10,000 cycles, the capacitance retention of the MnFe₂O₄@C electrode is up to 93.9%, suggesting its excellent long-term cycling stability. After assembling with activated carbon (AC) to form a MnFe₂O₄@C//AC device, the energy density of this MnFe₂O₄@C//AC device is 27 W·h·kg⁻¹ at a power density of 290 W·kg⁻¹, and remains at a 10 W·h·kg⁻¹ energy density at a high power density of 9300 W·kg⁻¹.