Magnetic CuFe2O4 Nanoparticles with Pseudocapacitive Properties for Electrical Energy Storage

Wenyu Liang; Wenjuan Yang; Sadman Sakib; Igor Zhitomirsky

doi:10.3390/molecules27165313

Magnetic CuFe₂O₄ Nanoparticles with Pseudocapacitive Properties for Electrical Energy Storage

Molecules. 2022 Aug 20;27(16):5313. doi: 10.3390/molecules27165313.

Authors

Wenyu Liang¹, Wenjuan Yang¹, Sadman Sakib¹, Igor Zhitomirsky¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S4L7, Canada.

Abstract

This investigation is motivated by increasing interest in the development of magnetically ordered pseudocapacitors (MOPC), which exhibit interesting magnetocapacitive effects. Here, advanced pseudocapacitive properties of magnetic CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles in negative potential range are reported, suggesting that CuFe₂O₄ is a promising MOPC and advanced negative electrode material for supercapacitors. A high capacitance of 2.76 F cm^-2 is achieved at a low electrode resistance in a relatively large potential window of 0.8 V. The cyclic voltammograms and galvanostatic charge-discharge data show nearly ideal pseudocapacitive behavior. Good electrochemical performance is achieved at a high active mass loading due to the use of chelating molecules of ammonium salt of purpuric acid (ASPA) as a co-dispersant for CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles and conductive multiwalled carbon nanotube (MCNT) additives. The adsorption of ASPA on different materials is linked to structural features of ASPA, which allows for different interaction and adsorption mechanisms. The combination of advanced magnetic and pseudocapacitive properties in a negative potential range in a single MOPC material provides a platform for various effects related to the influence of pseudocapacitive/magnetic properties on magnetic/pseudocapacitive behavior.

Keywords: copper; dispersant; iron; magnetic; oxide; spinel; supercapacitor.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, grant number RGPIN-2018-04014 and CRC program. Lory Wenjuan Yang received a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council.