Electrospun ZnFe2O4-based nanofiber composites with enhanced supercapacitive properties

• Electrospun ZnFe2O4-based nanofibers were successfully fabricated.
• The electrochemical properties of ZnFe2O4 were enhanced by addition of ZnO and Fe2O3.
• A specific capacitance of 590 F g−1 was achieved from a CV curve at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1.
• The electrode materials poses excellent cycling stability even after 3000 cycles.

Herein, we are reporting a facile method to synthesis ZnFe2O4-based nanofibers (ZnFe2O4, ZnO–ZnFe2O4 and Fe2O3–ZnFe2O4) via the electrospinning technique using zinc acetonate and ferric acetonate as the metal oxide precursor and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as the polymer. The as-prepared electrospun nanofiber composites were calcined at 500 °C to obtain crystalline porous nanofibers. The effect of different compositions on the morphology of each sample as well as their electrochemical properties when employed as electrode materials was studied. The results show that the as-prepared electrodes exhibited excellent performance with their specific capacitances calculated from the CV curves as 590, 490 and 450 F g−1 for Fe2O3–ZnFe2O4, ZnO–ZnFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 respectively at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1. Excellent stability of the electrodes was also observed even after 3000 cycles. The results obtained suggest these electrode materials might be promising candidates for supercapacitor application.