Sains Malaysiana 43(6)(2014): 885–894

Nano Fe3O4-Activated Carbon Composites for Aqueous Supercapacitors

(Nanokomposit Fe3O4-Karbon Aktif untuk Super-Kapasitor Akueus)

M.Y. HO¹², P.S. KHIEW¹*, D. ISA¹, T.K. TAN¹ , W.S. CHIU³, C.H. CHIA⁴, M.A.A. HAMID⁴ & R. SHAMSUDIN⁴

¹Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia

²Materials Engineering Division, School of Technology, Tunku Abdul Rahman College

Jalan Genting Kelang, 53300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

³Low Dimensional Materials Research Center, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science

University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁴School of Applied Physics, Faculty Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Diserahkan: 15 Mac 2013/Diterima: 20 Disember 2013

ABSTRACT

In this study, a symmetric supercapacitor has been fabricated by adopting the nanostructured iron oxide (Fe3O4)-activated carbon (AC) composite as the core electrode materials. The composite electrodes were prepared via a facile mechanical mixing process and PTFE polymeric solution has been used as the electrode material binder. Structural analysis of the nanocomposite electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The electrochemical performances of the prepared supercapacitor were studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 1.0 M Na2SO3 and 1.0 M Na2SO4 aqueous solutions, respectively. The experimental results showed that the highest specific capacitance of 43 F/g is achieved with a fairly low Fe3O4 nanomaterials loading (4 wt. %) in 1 M Na2SO3. It is clear that the low concentration of nanostructured Fe3O4 has improved the capacitive performance of the composite via pseudocapacitance charge storage mechanism as well as the enhancement on the specific surface areas of the electrode. However, further increasing of the Fe3O4 content in the electrode is found to distort the capacitive performance and deteriorate the specific surface area of the electrode, mainly due to the aggregation of the Fe3O4 particles within the composite. Additionally, the CV results showed that the Fe3O4/AC nanocomposite electrode in Na2SO3 electrolyte exhibits a better charge storage performance if compared with Na2SO4 solution. It is believed that Fe3O4 nanoparticles can provide favourable surface adsorption sites for sulphite (SO32-) anions which act as catalysts for subsequent redox and intercalation reactions.

Keywords: Activated carbon; aqueous electrolyte; iron oxide; supercapacitor

ABSTRAK

Dalam kajian ini, super-kapasitor bersimetri telah dibina dengan menggunakan nanokomposit ferum oksida (Fe3O4)- karbon aktif (AC) sebagai bahan asas elektrod. Elektrod nanokomposit telah disediakan secara percampuran mekanikal mudah dan larutan polimer PTFE telah digunakan sebagai agen pengikat untuk bahan elektrod. Pencirian struktur elektrod nanokomposit telah dilakukan dengan mikroskopi pengimbasan elektron (SEM) dan analisa Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). Pencapaian elektro-kimia untuk super-kapasitor dalam larutan akueus 1.0 M Na2SO3 dan 1.0 M Na2SO4 telah dianalisis dengan mengunakan voltametri siklik (CV) dan spektroskopi impedansi elektro-kimia (EIS). Keputusan kajian menunjukkan kemuatan kapasitan tertinggi sebanyak 43 F/g boleh dicapai dengan penambahan kecil nanozarah Fe3O4 dalam larutan 1 M Na2SO3. Ini jelas menunjukkan penambahan nanozarah Fe3O4 pada kandungan yang rendah dapat meningkatkan pencapaian kemuatan kapasitan elektrod komposit menerusi mekanisme caj penyimpanan pseudo-kapasitan dan juga menambahkan keluasan permukaan spesifik elektrod. Walau bagaimanapun, penambahan kandungan Fe3O4 yang lebih tinggi di dalam elektrod didapati akan menjejaskan pencapaian kapasitan dan mengurangkan keluasan permukaan spesifik elektrod, disebabkan penggumpalan nanozarah Fe3O4 di dalam komposit. Tambahan pula, keputusan CV menunjukkan pencapaian caj penyimpanan elektrod nano-komposit Fe3O4/AC dalam elektrolit Na2SO3 adalah lebih baik berbanding dengan larutan Na2SO4. Nanozarah Fe3O4 dipercayai dapat menyediakan tapak penjerapan anion sulfida (SO32-) yang bertindak sebagai pemangkin untuk tindak balas interkalasi dan redoks seterusnya.

Kata kunci: Elektrolit akueus; karbon aktif; nanozarah ferum oksida; super-kapasitor

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*Pengarang untuk surat-menyurat; email: PoiSim.Khiew@nottingham.edu.my