Evaluation of aluminium doped lanthanum ferrite based electrodes for supercapacitor design

We report Al doped ferrites La1 − xAlxFeO3(x = 0, 0.3) as an electrode material for supercapacitor design. The La1 − xAlxFeO3 has been synthesized via chemical route. Structural and microstructural evolution has been carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) respectively. The electrode property of La1 − xAlxFeO3 has been evaluated by using three electrode systems, glassy carbon (working), Pt (counter) and Ag/AgCl (reference electrode) with H2SO4 as the electrolyte. The Al doped ferrites show better cycle life (~ 250) and columbic efficiency (η) (~ 96%) in comparison to un-doped lanthanum ferrite sample. An increase in specific capacitance (~ 1.5 times) has also been observed in Al doped lanthanum ferrite in comparison to lanthanum ferrite. The maximum specific capacitance for Al doped lanthanum ferrite is ~ 260 F/g as compared to lanthanum ferrite ~ 200 F/g. The improved specific capacitance, columbic efficiency and cycle life of Al doped ferrites may be related to a relative decrease in equivalent series resistance (95 Ω for LFO to 55 Ω LAFO) and lower M.W. of Al doped lanthanum ferrite.