Phyto-mediated CuO–Sb 2 O 3 nanocomposite supported on Ni foam as a proficient dual-functional supercapacitor electrode and overall water splitting electrocatalyst

Owing to the higher global energy needs through cleaner sources the present study manifests a modified and ecofriendly method for the fabrication of CuO–Sb 2 O 3 -based electrode for electrochemical experiments. The aqueous solution derived from the Amaranthus viridis L. plant, belonging to the Amaranthaceae family, was employed as a reducing agent in order to impact the structure of CuO–Sb2O3 nanocomposites. The improved material exhibited a regular crystal size of 40.04 nm that is in excellent accordance with the findings obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, FE-SEM, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy were utilized in order to examine and assess the synthesized nanocomposite. Based on the Tauc plot, the optical bandgap energy was found to be 2.7 eV. The bioorganic framework-derived CuO–Sb 2 O 3 electrode was then evaluated for energy generation and storage applications, with cyclic voltammetry revealing a capacitance of 344.4 F/g at 2 mV/s. Hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reactions demonstrated the electrocatalytic potential of CuO–Sb 2 O 3 as a water splitting electrocatalyst, with the highest efficiency of the electrode up to 18 h for HER. Graphical abstract