Synthesis and Characterization of Ternary Mesoporous Carbon/ZnMn2O4 for Supercapacitor Application

• Published in: Journal of electronic materials 2020-02, Vol.49 (2), p.1024-1035
• Main Authors: Sim, Cheng-Kim, Razali, S. A., Majid, S. R., Mahmood, Noor Zalina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Capacitance; Carbon; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Current density; Diffraction patterns; Durability; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Electronics and Microelectronics; Flux density; Instrumentation; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Porosity; Solid State Physics; Supercapacitors; Zinc compounds
• ISSN: 0361-5235; 1543-186X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-019-07733-2

Mesoporous carbon/ZnMn 2 O 4 (C/ZMO) was synthesized via a simple and economical combustion method. C/ZMO-1 exhibited high porosity with a specific surface area of 794.94 m 2  g −1 . Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy results and x-ray diffraction patterns have proved that ZMO was successfully doped to the carbon source. Electrochemical properties of the materials were investigated with cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge in 6 M KOH electrolyte using a three-electrode system. The electrochemical measurements demonstrated that the capacitance of C/ZMO-1 improved after ZMO was introduced, from 117.06 Fg −1 to 122.94 Fg −1 at a current density of 0.3 Ag −1 . Additionally, high durability was observed in C/ZMO-1 with 90.77% of capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at various current densities. A symmetrical C/ZMO-1||C/ZMO-1 cell was fabricated with high durability and stability of 98.78%. An energy density of 1.94 Wh kg −1 and power density of 129.43 W kg −1 of the symmetrical cell has been achieved. A long cycle life with excellent durability results implied that mesoporous carbon composite is a promising, cost-effective and environmentally friendly electrode material for supercapacitors.