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Hydrothermal Synthesis of Copper Oxide and Carbon Nanotube

(CuO/CNT) Nanocomposite to Enhance Supercapacitor Electrodes


Performance

Julistian-Ade, An-Ya Lo*


Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan
No.57, Sec. 2, Zhongshan Rd., Taiping Dist., Taichung 41170, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
ade_julistian@yahoo.com, aylo@ncut.edu.tw*

Supercapacitors (SCs) are great candidate for energy storage compared to batteries because its
have highier power capability and longer cycle life [1]. Hybrid-supercapacitor is made by a combination
of metal oxide and carbon materials. The purpose of combining this two materials is to acquired both
advantages of each materials [1-2]. In this study, copper oxide and carbon nanotubes (CuO/CNT)
nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method. The optimum condition was obtained by
adjusting reaction time, temperature, and concentration of copper acetate solution. The electrochemical
properties were tested by half-cell in a three-electrode configuration; stainless steel was used as the
working electrode, platinum wire as the counter electrode and Ag/AgCl electrode as the reference
electrode with saturated ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) as the electrolyte. The surface morphologies and
crystallographic informations of CuO/CNT was analyzed by the SEM and XRD. The experimental results
showed that the optimum conditions to synthesized CuO/CNT nanocomposite were 5 mmol copper
acetate concentration for 30 mg CNT, 12 h reaction time, and the temperature was maintained at 180 oC in
the hydrothermal process. The maximum specific capacitance of CuO/CNT nanocomposite could reach
621 F/g at a charging current of 1 A/g, which is 10-times higher than typical carbon nanotubes composite
for supercapacitor electrode. EDS mapping for 10 minutes indicated that the weight ratio was 1, 1, 4.5 for
copper, oxygen, and carbon, respectively. Thus, performance enhancement of supercapacitor electrode
can be acquired by combining copper oxide and carbon nanotube.

References
[1] Mao-Sung Wu*, Ya-Ping Lin, Chun-Hao Lin, Jyh-Tsung Lee, Formation of Nano-Scaled Crevices and
Spacers in NiO-Attached Grapheme Oxide Nanosheets for Supercapacitors, J. Mater. Chem. (2012)
22:2442
[2] Nagesh Kumar, Yun-Cheng Yu, Yi Hsuan Lu, Tseung Yuen Tseng, Fabrication of Carbon
Nanotube/Cobalt Oxide Nanocomposites via Electrophoretic Deposition for Supercapacitor
Electrodes, J. Mater. Sci. (2016) 51:2320-2329

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