Facile Biogenic synthesis of Europium doped lanthanum silicate nanoparticles as novel supercapacitor electrodes for efficient energy storage applications

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrated for the first time, use of Europium doped lanthanum silicate nanoparticles (LS NPs) as electrodes for supercapacitor applications. Europium (Eu3+) doped (5 mol%) LS NPs were synthesized by green solution combustion method using Mexican mint leaf extracts. Various analytical techniques such as High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Selected Area Diffraction (SAED), Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) techniques were used to confirm the morphological and structural characteristics of the synthesized nanoparticles. The HRTEM and SAED patterns confirms the formation of NPs having agglomerated structure with a particle size less than 50 nm. The PXRD patterns reveals crystalline cubic structure for the NPs. Further, the FT-IR spectra reveal the successful doping of Europium in Lanthanum Silicate NPs. The DRS (Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy) studies confirm the reduced band gap for Europium (Eu3+) doped (5 mol%) LS NPs. Cyclic voltametric and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiments were performed in an alkaline medium to compare the electrochemical activity of Eu3+ doped LS NPs with that of their undoped counterpart. The Eu3+ doped (5 %) LS NPs electrodes attained a specific capacitance of 373.3 Fg-1 at a current density of 0.5 Ag-1 in comparison to pure LS NPs which is about 267 Fg-1. The long-term stability of the Eu3+ doped (5 %) LS NPs electrodes show excellent stability up to 4000 cycles of operation in comparison pure LS NPs electrodes. Doping of Eu3+ had a favourable effect on the conductivity and electrochemical activity of LS NPs. Due to favourable green combustion synthesis, superior electrochemical performance, these Eu3+ doped LS NPs could be potential materials for new generation supercapacitors in energy storage applications.

Keywords

• Lanthanum silicates
• Eu3+
• XRD
• DRS
• Cyclic voltammetry
• Galvanostatic charge discharge