RESUMO
Simultaneous study of magnetic and electrocatalytic properties of cobaltites under extreme conditions expands the understanding of physical and chemical processes proceeding in them with the possibility of their further practical application. Therefore, La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 (LSCO) nanopowders were synthesized at different annealing temperatures tann = 850-900 °C, and their multifunctional properties were studied comprehensively. As tann increases, the rhombohedral perovskite structure of the LSCO becomes more single-phase, whereas the average particle size and dispersion grow. Co3+ and Co4+ are the major components. It has been found that LSCO-900 shows two main Curie temperatures, TC1 and TC2, associated with a particle size distribution. As pressure P increases, average ⟨TC1⟩ and ⟨TC2⟩ increase from 253 and 175 K under ambient pressure to 268 and 180 K under P = 0.8 GPa, respectively. The increment of ⟨dTC/dP⟩ for the smaller and bigger particles is sufficiently high and equals 10 and 13 K/GPa, respectively. The magnetocaloric effect in the LSCO-900 nanopowder demonstrates an extremely wide peak δTfwhm > 50 K that can be used as one of the composite components, expanding its working temperature window. Moreover, all LSCO samples showed excellent electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process (overpotentials of only 265-285 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2) with minimal η10 for LSCO-900. Based on the experimental data, it was concluded that the formation of a dense amorphous layer on the surface of the particles ensures high stability as a catalyst (at least 24 h) during electrolysis in 1 M KOH electrolyte.
RESUMO
The evolution of high-performance and stable electrode materials for supercapacitors plays a vital role in the next generation of energy storage devices. In this work we present a simple method for preparing Bi(nanoparticles)/CNx(nanosheets) nanocomposites as electrode materials for supercapacitors, which were synthesized by thermally treating bismuth citrate and urea at 550-700 °C under an Ar atmosphere. According to physicochemical studies (XRD, SEM, TG-DTA, XPS, FTIR, and BET), a "smeared" bismuth formation or the formation of nanoparticles on the CNx surface of interwoven 2D-nanosheets at different calcination temperatures was observed. Electrochemical measurements show that the specific capacity of the composites can reach 1251 F g-1 (more than 90% of the theoretical value) at a current density of 500 mA g-1 in a 6 M KOH electrolyte, and most two-dimensional CNx-based nanostructures remain intact after multiple galvanostatic charge-discharge processes, which is promising for the development of highly efficient supercapacitors. A supercapacitor composed of Bi/CNx nanocomposites for the negative electrode and Ni-layered hydroxide for the positive electrode demonstrates a high energy density of 58 W h kg-1 with a power density of 800 W kg-1 accompanied by a good cycle life (the parameters decreased down to only 78% after 1000 charge-discharge cycles). Our current results indicate that the addition of urea not only determines the morphology of the composites, but also lays the foundation for the development of new types of nanocomposites for the power industry.