Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of nanostructured nickel vanadate for supercapacitor and photocatalytic applications

Abstract

We successfully synthesised nickel vanadate (NiVO _3 ) nanocomposite by an inexpensive hydrothermal technique. Several analytical methods have been employed to characterise the synthesised nanocomposite. The crystal structure of NiVO _3 is orthorhombic, and its crystallite size is around 10.3 nm. The NiVO _3 nanocomposite has an optical band gap of 2.62 eV from the absorption spectra analysis. At a current density of 5 Ag ^−1 , the NiVO _3 nanocomposite exhibits a specific capacitance value of 398 Fg ^−1 and a retention rate of almost 90% after 2000 cycles. Furthermore, stability studies show that at a current density of 5 Ag ^−1 , 90% of the capacitance is retained for 4000 cycles. The photocatalytic studies to break down the industrial pollutant Fast Orange Red (F-OR) dye show a 98.7% decolourization rate after 120 min of exposure to UV light irradiation. These features promote the creation of such nanocomposites for practical energy and environmental applications while providing a deeper understanding of the material’s characteristics.

Keywords

• nickel vanadate nanocomposite
• touc plot
• energy storage
• decolorization
• industrial pollutant