Exploring the potential of green-synthesized copper oxide electrodes for energy storage applications

Abstract

Green synthesis-assisted transition metal oxides are an impressive potential material with charge storage capabilities owing to their high surface area and redox properties. The present work describes the preparation of copper oxide nanoparticles utilizing a citron (CT) peel extracted solution via a coprecipitation method for supercapacitor applications. In addition, the created CuO and CuO-CT nanoparticles are studied to characterize the crystallite size, surface morphology, optical energy band gap and elemental composition through the following analysis methods, namely XRD, TEM, FTIR, UV-DRS, XPS, etc. Electrochemical tests were performed via the three-electrode configuration with a typical 1 M KOH electrolyte solution, and the electrodes revealed specific capacitance values of CuO (35.2 F g⁻¹) and CuO-CT (2192 F g⁻¹) at a current density rate of 4 Ag⁻¹. The outcome of the electrochemical performance analysis shows the significantly enhanced electrical and optical characteristics. The green synthesis of CuO nanoparticles will be ideal for energy storage in a variety of electronic applications.