Potentials of Zea mays L. silk mediated bio-synthesized NaCr0.1Co0.4Ni0.5O2 nanoparticles for sodium-ion supercabattery applications

• Published in: Ionics 2023-12, Vol.29 (12), p.5237-5248
• Main Authors: Nwanya, Assumpta Chinwe, Ndipingwi, Miranda M., Ezema, Fabian I., Iwuoha, Emmanuel I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Aqueous environments; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cobalt oxides; Condensed Matter Physics; Current density; Discharge; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Electron microscopes; Energy Storage; Nanoparticles; Optical and Electronic Materials; Renewable and Green Energy; Scanning electron microscopy; Silk; Sodium chromites
• ISSN: 0947-7047; 1862-0760
• DOI: 10.1007/s11581-023-05243-0

We studied the potentials of using a green approach for the synthesis of quaternary high compositional diversity NaCr 0.1 Co 0.4 Ni 0.5 O 2 nanoparticles (NPs) as an electrode in a sodium-ion supercabattery tested in an aqueous environment. This entailed using aqueous extract from dried Zea mays lea (maize) silk in the synthesis protocol. Structural and morphological elucidation of the material was carried out using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. The results show that the structure is close to that of NaCrO 2 (ICSD 182235) with space group R-3m (No 166) though peaks corresponding to NiO and Co 3 O 4 were also identified in the diffractogram. The SEM analysis revealed that the material comprises hexagonal and triangular prism–shaped nanoparticles whose sizes range from 0.2 to 0.8 μm. The electrochemical energy storage potentials of the NPs were studied in both three- and two-electrode arrangements. In the three-electrode set-up, the counter-electrode used was Pt wire while Ag/AgCl served as the reference electrode, and an initial charge- and discharge-specific capacities of about 35.2 mAh g −1 and 26.7 mAh g −1 were obtained, respectively, at a current density of 0.1A g −1 . A full device of AC//NaCr 0.1 Co 0.4 Ni 0.5 O 2 which consists of the NaCr 0.1 Co 0.4 Ni 0.5 O 2 and activated carbon (AC) as the positive and negative electrodes, respectively, gave a discharge capacity of 10.1 mA h g −1 at a current density of 10 mA g −1 .