Hydrothermally synthesized Co3O4 microflakes for supercapacitor and non-enzymatic glucose sensor

Co3O4 nanostructures with different reaction times are synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The structural, morphological as well as electrochemical characteristics are performed for Co3O4 nanostructures. The XRD study reveals that the prepared Co3O4 exhibits the cubic structure. The Co3O4 shows microflakes-like morphology. The electrochemical study shows that the Co3O4 nanostructures synthesized with a reaction time of 18 h show better specific supercapacitance of 309 F g−1 at scan rate 5 mV s−1 with 7.46 W h kg−1 and 92.85 W kg−1 of energy and power density, respectively. Also, it shows excellent cyclic stability over 1000 cycles with a capacity retention of about 95.6%. Furthermore, the electrochemical results demonstrate that the prepared Co3O4 nanostructures with a reaction time of 18 h show better sensitivity of 0.3395 mA mM−1 cm−2 toward glucose with a detection limit of ~ 0.22 mM. This electrode also shows better selectivity toward glucose as compared to various interfering species.