Charge storage properties of mixed ternary transition metal ferrites MZnFe oxides (M = Al, Mg, Cu, Fe, Ni) prepared by hydrothermal method

Abstract

The current investigation focus on synthesize of nano-crystalline mixed ternary transition metal ferrites (MTTMF) through facile hydrothermal method combining post-annealing treatments via tuning the ratio of metallic elements using a nickel foam as the substrate. In this research, different transition metal ferrites of ZnFe2O4 (ZnFe), CoZnFe oxide, CuZnFe oxide, NiZnFe oxide, AlZnFe oxide and MgZnFe oxide have been synthesized. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to characterize phase development occurred in the MTTMF samples. The Morphologies of the prepared materials have been studied by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical performance of the electrodes was evaluated using galvanostatic charge–discharge, AC impedance measurement and cyclic voltammetry analysis. ZnFe electrode prepared at 150 °C shows the highest specific capacitance of 1298 F g−1 at 10 mV s−1 scan rate in 1 M KOH aqueous solution. It was concluded that higher annealing temperatures (180 °C) for this electrode resulted in better capacitive behavior with specific capacitance of 1580 F g−1 at a scan rate of 10 mV s−1. These high performance and great capacitive behavior indicated that the ZnFe electrode is a promising material for energy storage devices.