Decoration of mesoporous carbon electrodes with tin oxide to boost their supercapacitive performance

Abstract

Mesoporous carbon (N-CMK3) decorated with different amounts of SnO₂ nanoparticles was prepared in a controllable manner by using an incipient wetness impregnation technique, followed by a chemical reduction process, for application as a supercapacitor. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the surface area and pore volume of N-CMK3 decorated with SnO₂ continued to decrease after impregnation with increasing amounts of SnO₂. The results of the electrochemical measurement proved that decoration of N-CMK3 with a suitable amount of SnO₂ enhanced the specific capacitance of the electrodes. Among the SnO₂@N-CMK3 (SNC) samples under investigation, 15-SNC with 15 wt% SnO₂ delivered outstanding electrochemical performance with respect to specific capacitance and cycling stability. At a scan rate of 5 mV s⁻¹, 15-SNC exhibited superspecific capacitance up to 344 F g⁻¹ and long-term cyclability at a scan rate of 50 mV s⁻¹ with 92.4% retention of its initial specific capacitance of 161 F g⁻¹ after 5000 cycles.