Synthesis of porous CuCo2O4 nanorods/reduced graphene oxide composites via a facile microwave hydrothermal method for high-performance hybrid supercapacitor applications

Abstract Supercapacitors are considered to be promising energy storage devices because of their long cycle stability, fast charge-discharge, and high power density. However, energy storage performance predominantly depends on the morphology and nanostructure of electrode materials. The material with porous nanostructures has attracted great interest because of more active sites for the faradaic reactions which facilitate the utilization of the full capacity of the active materials. Herein, porous CuCo2O4 (CCO) nanorods dispersed on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets (CCO/rGO) has been prepared in a short duration via a facile single-step microwave hydrothermal method. The porous feature of the CCO nanorod provides more reactive sites for faradaic reaction and facilitates the electrolyte penetration into the inner region of the electrode. Also, the incorporation of rGO provides a more conductive network that facilitates the collection and transportation of electrons during cycling. Electrochemical performance of the CCO/rGO composite exhibits a specific capacity of 677 C g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 and retained excellent cycling stability of 97.4% after 2000 cycles at a high current density of 10 A g−1. This work demonstrated a simple, effective, and cost-cut method to prepare porous CuCo2O4 on rGO electrodes in a short time duration with the enhanced electrochemical performance for hybrid supercapacitor applications.