In-situ synthesis of europium oxide (Eu2O3) nanoparticles in heteroatom doped carbon nanofibers for boosting the cycle stability of the supercapacitors

Abstract

Maintaining a good specific energy without losing cycle stability is the focus of the supercapacitor field. In this study, carbon nanofibers including europium oxide nanoparticles (CNF/Eu2O3) have been synthesized in the presence of thiourea via a simple approach and applied for the first time as the electrode for SCs. The CNF/Eu2O3-1 electrode with nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms doped possessed a favorable specific capacitance of 183.2 F/g, a specific energy of 9.15 Wh/kg, and an excellent cycle ability of 94.8% even after 10 000 cycles at 1 A/g. Such excellent performance is ascribed to the surface functionalities, high surface area, and good interaction of Eu2O3 with CNF. This strategy will provide guidance for other rare element-based electrodes in the field of energy storage.