Carbon/CuO nanosphere-anchored g-C3N4 nanosheets as ternary electrode material for supercapacitors

Abstract

Novel electrode materials for supercapacitors comprised of carbon and copper oxide (CuO) nanospheres on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets, denoted as C/CuO@g-C3N4 are self-assembled via a one-step co-pyrolysis decomposition method. The pure g-C3N4 and C/CuO@g-C3N4 were confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N-2 adsorption/desorption studies and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The specific capacitance was 247.2 F g(-1) in 0.5 M NaOH at a current density of 1 Ag-1, and more than 92.1% of the capacitance was retained after 6000 cycles. The property enhancement was ascribed to the synergistic effects of the three components in the composite. These results suggest that C/CuO@g-C3N4 possessed an excellent cyclic stability with respect to their capacity performance as electrode materials.