Tetrabutylammonium Perchlorate electrolyte on electrochemical properties of spinel MgCo2O4 nanoparticles

Spinel magnesium Cobaltite (MgCo2O4) nanoparticles with a crystalline size in the range of ∼16 nm were prepared by a simple co-precipitation technique with NaOH as a precipitant. The formation of spinel MgCo2O4 phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that aggregated nanoplates. The electrochemical performance of modified MgCo2O4 electrodes was investigated with 2M of tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBA) electrolyte. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) results revealed that the MgCo2O4 electrode reached the highest specific capacitance of 390 °F/g at a scan rate of 5mV/s. The excellent electrochemical performance was absorbed due to the electrochemical faradaic redox reactions related to the intercalation/de-intercalation of the tetrabutylammonium cation (TBA+) and MgCo2O4 lattice, and brings an additional pseudocapacitive contribution. The present work proves that the prepared magnesium cobaltite can serve as advanced electrode material for next generation organic electrolyte supercapacitors.