Formation of surfaces oxide vacancies in porous ZnCo2O4 nanoflowers for enhanced energy storage performance
A cost-effective and large-scale method for synthesizing ZnCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoflowers with surface oxygen vacancies as electrode materials for supercapacitors is presented. The existence of oxygen vacancies on the surface of the ZnCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoflowers has been confirmed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The energy bands and density of states (DOS) of ZnCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> are examined using density functional theory, revealing that treatment with NaBH<sub>4</sub> reduces the band gap of ZnCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> while increasing the DOS near the Fermi level compared to pristine ZnCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>. Furthermore, the specific capacitance of reduced ZnCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> is nearly double that of its unmodified counterpart. This straightforward and practical approach significantly enhances both conductivity and specific capacitance in metal oxides, making it applicable to other similar materials.
Authors
- Jinbing Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1994-9390)
- Wenbo Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6890-4503)
- Deyang Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6112-5745)
- Ying Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8188-4818)
- Kangwen Qiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6203-8595)
- Binhe Feng
Institutions
- Ministry of Education (NZ)
- Xinyang Normal University (CN)
- Nanyang Normal University (CN)
- Huanghuai University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Discover Nano
- Published
- 2025-09-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-025-04347-y
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Supercapacitor Materials and Fabrication
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.99
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province
- Xinyang Normal University
- Nanhu Scholars Program for Young Scholars of Xinyang Normal University