The effects of nitrogen ions’ implantation on La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 nanocomposite electrode for high-performance supercapacitor applications

Abstract

A solid-state synthesis approach was adopted in synthesizing La_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃ nanocomposite materials. Nitrogen ions at dosages of 5 × 10¹⁴, 5 × 10¹⁶, and 5 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm³ were irradiated on the La_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃ sample and characterized to determine their structure, morphology, elemental composition, optical characteristics, functional groups, and electrochemical features. The structural study revealed an orthorhombic crystal structure with an average crystallite size of about 16 nm. The surface morphology showed nanograins distributed throughout the surface while the basic elements that make up the composite before and after the irradiation were shown. The irradiated samples recorded higher absorbance and reduced energy band-gap values from 1.80 eV to 1.59 eV. Functional groups observed due to lattice vibrations were demonstrated in the FT-IR plots. Good cyclic behavior exhibiting maximum specific capacitance values of 468.75 and 937.52 F/g were evaluated from the CV and GCD tests, respectively. Findings from the synthesized nanocomposites show the potential application of the nanocomposites in optical and electrochemical devices.