Cyclic voltammetry and specific capacitance studies of copper oxide nanostructures grown by hot water treatment

Three-dimensional almond shaped CuO nanostructures were prepared on the surface of Cu foil via hot water treatment (HWT) for the purpose of developing a high surface area supercapacitor electrode. The morphology and composition of CuO nanostructures were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, respectively. The electrochemical properties of CuO nanostructures were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) over various scan rates. Electrochemical measurements indicated that the maximum specific capacitance of 38.7 F/g was achieved at the scan rate of 5 mV/s in Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte. In addition, the capacitance retention rate was around 72% after 3000 consecutive cycles. All experimental results suggest that CuO nanostructures grown by HWT can create promising applications of CuO towards pseudosupercapacitor applications. Graphical abstract