Microwave assisted growth of stannous ferrite microcubes as electrodes for potentiometric nonenzymatic H2O2 sensor and supercapacitor applications

•Facile microwave approach is employed for synthesizing SnFe2O4 microcubes.•SnFe2O4 electrodes exhibited excellent supercapacitor and H2O2 sensing performance.•Specific capacitance of SnFe2O4 electrodes was three times higher than Fe2O3.•Lower limit of H2O2 detection and sensitivity: 41 nM and 2.7 mV μM−1 μg−1.•SnFe2O4 microcubes are excellent materials for electrochemical applications

Electrochemical sensors and supercapacitors are two noteworthy applications of electrochemistry. Herein, we report the synthesis of SnFe2O4 microcubes and Fe2O3 nanorods through a facile microwave assisted technique which are employed in fabricating the electrodes for nonenzymatic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sensor and supercapacitor applications. SnFe2O4 microcubes exhibited an enhanced specific capacitance of 172 Fg−1 at a scan rate of 5 mVs−1 in comparison to Fe2O3 nanorods (70 Fg−1). Furthermore, the H2O2 sensing performance of the fabricated SnFe2O4 electrodes through chronopotentiometry studies in 0.1 M PBS solution (at pH 7) with a wide linear range revealed a good sensitivity of 2.7 mV μM−1 μg−1 with a lowest detection limit of 41 nM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. These results indicate that SnFe2O4 microcubes are excellent materials for the cost effective design and development of efficient supercapacitors as well as nonenzymatic sensors.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (182KB)Download full-size image