Development of NiCo₂O₄/rGO Nanocomposites for High Performance Supercapacitors

Transition metal oxide nanocomposites featuring diverse structures have garnered significant attention in the realm of supercapacitors. This interest is attributed to their cost-effectiveness, high surface area, rapid transport of ions and electrons, and the ability to deliver high specific capacitance. In this work, sea-urchin shaped NiCo₂O₄ reduced graphene oxide (NCO/rGO) nanocomposites were synthesized via facile hydrothermal route. NCO/rGO nanocomposite was subsequently loaded on nickel foam (NF) using the drop casting method to build NCO/rGO electrodes. The structural and morphological characteristics of our designed electrodes such as NCO and NCO/rGO electrodes were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier infrared transform spectroscopy (FTIR) while cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were performed to address the electrochemical efficacy of our designed electrodes which reveal redox-mediated charge storage in NCO-rGO. As-prepared NCO/rGO electrode exhibited high specific capacitance of 875 F g^-1 at current density of 1 A g^-1 which demonstrates the potential of NCO/rGO as a suitable candidate in supercapacitor applications.