Synthesis and characterization of CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite for supercapacitor application

The present work describes the synthesis of spinel ferrites which is potentially active material for electrodes of supercapacitors with high theoretical capacitance. Using nitrate salts of respective metal ions with citric acid as a chelating agent CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite was prepared by using the sol-gel auto-combustion method. The formation of single-phase nano particles of CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite is confirmed form the X-ray diffraction pattern. The spherical morphology of copper ferrite nano particles is displayed by Field-emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. The electrochemical properties of CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite has been investigated by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Galvanostatic Charge-Discharge (GCD) tests. The specific capacitance of the prepared CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite is 238 F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g. The corresponding power density is 118.29 W/kg and the energy density is 62.5 Wh/kg. The resultant CuFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles exhibit excellent electrochemical performance and can be a promising candidate for supercapacitor application.