Chemical synthesis and supercapacitive properties of lanthanum telluride thin film.

Lanthanum telluride (La2Te3) thin films are synthesized via a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The crystal structure, surface morphology and surface wettability properties are investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and contact angle goniometer techniques, respectively. The La2Te3 material exhibits a specific surface area of 51m2g-1 determined by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. La2Te3 thin film electrode has a hydrophilic surface which consists of interconnected pine leaf-like flaky arrays that affect the performance of the supercapacitor. The supercapacitive performance of La2Te3 film electrode is evaluated in 1M LiClO4/PC electrolyte using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. La2Te3 film electrode exhibits a specific capacitance of 194Fg-1 at a scan rate of 5mVs-1 and stored energy density of 60Whkg-1 with delivering power density of 7.22kWkg-1. La2Te3 film electrode showed capacitive retention of 82% over 1000cycles at a scan rate of 100mVs-1. Further, flexible La2Te3|LiClO4-PVA|La2Te3 supercapacitor cell is fabricated.