Synthesis of samarium telluride thin films by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method for supercapacitor application

The present paper deals with synthesis of samarium telluride (Sm2Te3) thin films using simple and low cost successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method for supercapacitor application. The Sm2Te3 thin films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for structural determination, energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX) for elemental composition, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) for surface morphological study and contact angle measurement for wettability study. The Sm2Te3 exhibits orthorhombic crystal structure with cloud like surface morphology. The film surface showed lyophilic behavior with contact angle of 5.7° for propylene carbonate (PC). Further, electrochemical measurements are carried out in LiClO4–PC electrolyte using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The Sm2Te3 film showed maximum specific capacitance and energy density of 144 F g−1 and 10 W h kg−1 respectively. The EIS study showed negligible change in resistive parameters after 1000 electrochemical cycles.