Synthesis of 3D rice-like BiOCl battery-type electrode material and evaluation of their electrochemical performance in a symmetrical supercapacitor device configuration

3D porous rice-like BiOCl nanostructure was prepared via solvothermal technique with sodium chlorate as a surfactant which serves as electrode material for the supercapacitor applications. The prepared nanoparticles supported on nickel foam textile exhibit high battery-type charge storage ability in a 3 M KOH aqueous electrolyte solution. The dominance of the battery-type charge storage mechanism of the BiOCl electrode was confirmed through the CV study. Furthermore, the GCD study revealed a good specific capacity of 501 C/g at 0.5 A/g current density and cycle stability of 80% over 2500 cycles. In the presence of a 3 M KOH electrolyte, a symmetric supercapacitor device was constructed with two identical 3D rice-like BiOCl electrodes. This configuration unveiled an impressive energy density of 21.8 Wh/kg at 772.5 W/kg power density. To illustrate its practical viability, two BiOCl/BiOCl symmetric devices were connected in series, successfully powering a red LED for approximately 50 s with high light intensity. This underscores the practical potential of the 3D rice-like BiOCl electrode in energy storage systems. In order to maximize the potential of BiOCl material in the future, the focus could be shifted towards mitigating the challenge of potential drop. This hurdle could be tackled by fabricating nanocomposites of BiOCl incorporated with conductive polymers and graphene oxide, thus elevating its overall performance.