Assessment of supercapacitive performance of europium tungstate nanoparticles prepared via hydrothermal method

Nano-sized europium tungstate particles were prepared by reacting europium nitrate hexahydrate and sodium tungstate solutions, and the structures, morphology and optical properties of the product were evaluated by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and UV-Visible techniques. The Eu-2(WO4)(3) nanoparticles were evaluated as potential materials for constructing supercapacitor electrodes using the results of cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the electrodes were found to have a specific capacitance (SC) value of 347 F g(-1) in a 2.0 M H2SO4 electrolyte at a scan rate of 2 mV s(-1). The electrodes were further studied at the GCD at a current density of 1 A g(-1), and the SC of the building material was found to be 282 F g(-1). The cycling durability of the electrodes was also found to be excellent. After 4000 cycles the SC values of the electrodes were found to reach 129%. The preparation method and the resulting nano-particles, were hence found to be promising for high performance energy applications.