Hydrothermal Synthesis, Characterization, and Electrochemical Behaviour of Cobalt Oxide (Co3O4) Nanoparticles for Stable Electrode with Enhanced Supercapacitance

The electrochemical performance of highly crystalline cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticles is described in this work using an oxalate-assisted hydrothermal synthesis in the presence of a natural surfactant. The Co3O4 nanoparticle has a cubic spinel crystal structure with a crystallite size of 39 nm as determined XRD analysis. FTIR and UV–vis spectrum methods are used to evaluate the optical and functional properties of the synthesized Co3O4 nanoparticles. Due to the quantum confinement effect, the UV–vis spectrum of Co3O4 nanoparticles shows a wide energy band gap of 4.78 eV, which confirms the semiconducting nature of Co3O4 nanoparticles. The excellent performance is attributable to the simple accessibility of the electrolyte as well as the porous poly-pyramidal shape, which enables Co3O4 nanoparticles’ volume expansion. In light of their charging and discharging behaviour, electrochemical examination of green chemical oxalate aided Co3O4 nanoparticles reveals remarkable super capacitance behaviour with rapid dissemination of electrolyte ions on the electrode. These findings discover that the hydrothermally synthesized Co3O4 nanoparticles are novel materials for making high-potential super capacitors.