Abstract

Nanocomposites of Fullerene C60 (FC60) with lanthanide oxides show better energy storage properties compared with any of them alone. In the present research, we have synthesized FC60 (2, 5 and 10 wt%) anchored on Sm2O3@Eu2O3 bimetallic oxides by simple chemical precipitation method. The FC60:Sm2O3@Eu2O3 core shell nanocomposites (NCs) were characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), EDX (energy dispersive X-ray), UV-visible, XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), and BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) analytical methods. XRD studies revealed mixed phase of monoclinic and orthorhombic crystal structure with irregularly scattered small plate/flake like morphology agglomerated and formed as large grains. Electrochemical supercapacitive behaviour of Sm2O3@Eu2O3 bimetallic oxides showed specific capacitance (SCs) of 665.075F/g in 3 M KOH as electrolyte. The SCs of FC60 (5 wt% and 10 wt%):Sm2O3@Eu2O3 electrode material in 3 M KOH solution was found to be 795.92F/g and 1120F/g at a current density of 1 A/g (scan rate of 10 mV/s). FC60 (10 wt%):Sm2O3@Eu2O3 NCs showed excellent capacitive retention of 90.8 % after 10,000 cycles. The Zeta potential (zeta) studies of FC60:Sm2O3@Eu2O3 NCs showed decrease in the mean Zeta potential (zeta) from 34.23 mV to 11.97 mV with decrease in electrophoretic mobility (2.667 to 0.933 (mu m cm/Vs)) attributed to the cationic nature of the FC60:Sm2O3@Eu2O3 NCs. The FC60:Sm2O3@Eu2O3 NCs with high cycle stability and charge density can be a better candidate for high energy storage devices, supercapacitor, dielectric related applications.