Supercapattery performances of nanostructured cerium oxide synthesized using polymer soft-template

In the present study, we demonstrate the supercapattery performances of cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanoparticles prepared using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/ Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) soft template method. The formation of the CeO₂ nanoparticle was confirmed using X-ray diffraction, Raman and UV-visible spectroscopic analyses. The surface morphology was confirmed using a scanning electron microscope. High-resolution transmission electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis of the CeO₂ nanoparticle revealed the presence of spherical nano-grains in the size range of 8–12 nm. The electrochemical properties of the CeO₂ electrode revealed good reversibility with high specific capacity of 400 C g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹ in 1 M KOH. Laboratory proto-type supercapattery was fabricated using CeO₂ as positive electrode and reduced graphene-oxide (rGO) as negative electrode that delivered specific energy of 20 Wh kg⁻¹ and high specific power of 1475 W kg⁻¹ in the optimum potential window of 0–1 V. The excellent performance of CeO₂ supercapattery was attributed to the presence of high concentration of surface Ce³⁺ ions in the CeO₂ and large surface area. The practical viability of the fabricated supercapattery was demonstrated by powering a commercial 2.8 V light-emitting diode (LED) for more than 10 min on a single charge.