3D graphene oxide/nickel ferrite aerogel for high-performance supercapacitor application

As one of the most common electrode materials for supercapacitors, spinel ferrites have attracted a lot of attention due to their excellent capacitive performance and pseudocapacitive behavior. In this work, the graphene oxide aerogel/nickel ferrite nanocomposite, namely GOA/NiFe2O4, was designed, which NiFe2O4 nanoparticles are well distributed on the GOA nanosheets and revealed enhanced electrochemical behavior than single materials. At first, investigation of structural and morphological properties of electrode materials were studied by XRD, FT-IR, FESEM, EDX, BET, and TEM analyses. Results shows that exist a porous and layered structure of GOA, and proper distribution of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles into nanocomposite without unchanging the materials structure. Also, GOA, NiFe2O4 and GOA/NiFe2O4 have an active surface area of 373.56, 9.73 and 16.60 m2/g, respectively. At the next step, their electrochemical properties and applications in energy storage were realized by the cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) analyses in a 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte solution. Based on the results, a maximum specific capacitance of 1393 F/g at 1 A/g, power density of 168.157 W/kg, and energy density of 14.39 Wh/kg was obtained for the GOA/NiFe2O4 nanocomposite, and this electrode can maintain 82 % of capacitance at a higher current density of 8 A/g after 1000 cycles. Furthermore, an asymmetrical supercapacitor is constructed which shows superior electrochemical performance, producing a high energy density (61.73 Wh/kg) and a high-power density (570.25 W/kg) with excellent cycling stability. Hence, the nanocomposite electrode with a porous structure can be utilized as suitable electrode material for energy storage applications in supercapacitors. •A novel Graphene Oxide/Nickel Ferrite Aerogel nanocomposite was synthesized using facile hydrothermal method.•The capacitance value of the composite is as high as 1393 F/g at the current density of 1.0 A g−1.•High power density of 168 W/kg and energy density of 14.39 Wh/kg were achieved.•The nanocomposites have potential in supercapacitor applications due to their improved electrochemical properties.