Surfactant-assisted morphological tuning of hierarchical CuO thin films for electrochemical supercapacitors

Abstract

Copper oxide (CuO) thin films are successfully synthesized using a surfactant assisted chemical bath deposition method for application in supercapacitors. The effect of organic surfactants such as Triton X-100 and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on structural, morphological, surface areas and electrochemical properties of CuO thin films is investigated. The films deposited using organic surfactants exhibit different surface morphologies. It is observed that the organic surfactants play important roles in modifying the morphology, surface area and pore size distribution. Electrochemical analysis confirms that the nanostructures of the electrode material play a vital role in supercapacitors. The cyclic voltammetry studies show a considerably improved high rate pseudocapacitance of CuO samples synthesized using organic surfactants. The maximum specific capacitance of 411 F g⁻¹ at 5 mV s⁻¹ is obtained for the CuO sample prepared using an organic surfactant (Triton X-100). Furthermore, all the CuO nanostructures exhibit high power performance, excellent rate as well as long term cycling stability. The Ragone plot ascertains better power and energy densities of CuO nanostructured samples. This is an easy and simple way to tune the morphology using surfactants which can be applied for other energy storage materials.