Facile synthesis of CdO nanorods and exploiting its properties towards supercapacitor electrode materials and low power UV irradiation driven photocatalysis against methylene blue dye

- CdO NRs have been synthesized by a facile co-precipitation method with potential for large scale production.
- The obtained CdO NRs are impurity free and possess high crystallinity.
- The synthesized CdO NRs show outstanding electrochemical capacitive behavior.
- The photocatalytic activity under low power UV irradiation depict that the synthesized CdO NRs would be an excellent photocatalytic material in wastewater treatment.

Cadmium oxide (CdO) nanorods (NRs) were synthesized by a facile co-precipitation method with potential for large scale production. The structural and optical properties of synthesized CdO NRs were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis.) spectroscopy. The outstanding electrochemical capacitive performance using cyclic voltammetry (CV) test indicates that CdO NRs may be a capable electrode material for stable and high performance supercapacitors. The photocatalytic activity of CdO NRs for the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye was carried out with a UV light source equipped with 8W tube. The high surface area and synergistic effect in the synthesized CdO NRs are responsible for excellent photodegradation rate under low power UV irradiation which renders the entire process economically feasible. The development of such low cost and effective photocatalytic and electrode materials is desirable for the next generation photocatalysts and supercapacitor electrodes.

77