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

Abstract

Electrochemical sensors and supercapacitors are two noteworthy applications of electrochemistry. Herein, we report the synthesis of SnFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> microcubes and Fe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> nanorods through a facile microwave assisted technique which are employed in fabricating the electrodes for nonenzymatic hydrogen peroxide (H<inf>2</inf>O<inf>2</inf>) sensor and supercapacitor applications. SnFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> microcubes exhibited an enhanced specific capacitance of 172 Fg?1 at a scan rate of 5 mVs?1 in comparison to Fe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf> nanorods (70 Fg?1). Furthermore, the H<inf>2</inf>O<inf>2</inf> sensing performance of the fabricated SnFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> 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 ?M?1 ?g?1 with a lowest detection limit of 41 nM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. These results indicate that SnFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> microcubes are excellent materials for the cost effective design and development of efficient supercapacitors as well as nonenzymatic sensors. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd