Novel red blood cell shaped α-Fe2O3 microstructures and FeO(OH) nanorods as high capacity supercapacitors

Abstract

In this paper, we report the synthesis of novel red blood cell shaped α-Fe₂O₃ microstructures for the first time, which were synthesized by using urea as a hydrolysis agent, ammonium chloride as a structure directing agent and PVA as a surfactant through a hydrothermal method. By only adjusting the hydrothermal temperature, FeO(OH) nanorods were obtained. When used as electrode materials in supercapacitors, the FeO(OH) nanorods exhibit much better capacitive properties of 392.6 F g⁻¹ than red blood cell shaped α-Fe₂O₃ microstructures (118.1 F g⁻¹) at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹, maintaining 91.4% and 75.5% of the initial capacity at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹ after 500 cycles respectively. Such high performance can be attributed to the desirable morphology and components. The results manifest that the FeO(OH) nanorods may be promising electrode materials for supercapacitors.