Porous Co3O4 nanowires derived from long Co(CO3)0.5(OH)·0.11H2O nanowires with improved supercapacitive properties

• Main Authors: Wang, Bao, Zhu, Ting, Wu, Hao Bin, Xu, Rong, Chen, Jun Song, Lou, David Xiong Wen
• Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/106597; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/10741
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Porous Co3O4 nanowires with large aspect ratio have been obtained by annealing long Co(CO3)0.5(OH)·0.11H2O precursor nanowires synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The results show that the amount of the additive (urea) has an important impact on the morphology of the as-synthesized cobalt-carbonate-hydroxide intermediate, where the uniformity and the overall structure can be controlled by changing the urea concentration. After the heat treatment, the as-obtained phase-pure Co3O4 nanowires with a well retained structure are applied as the electrode material for supercapacitors, and the sample exhibits excellent performance with a high specific capacitance of 240 F g−1 after 2000 charge/discharge cycles, corresponding to a retention of 98% of the initial capacitance.