Facile fabrication of porous Co3O4 nanowires for high performance supercapacitors
Abstract
One-dimensional porous Co3O4 nanowires are successfully prepared by thermal decomposition of a coordination polymer, using nitrilotriacetic acid (NA) as a chelating agent via a solvothermal method. The Co3O4 nanowires with porous structure comprise numerous nanoparticles and maintain the nanowire structure of Co–NA precursors. When evaluated for supercapacitor electrode materials, Co3O4 nanowires exhibit superior electrochemical properties. A high specific capacitance of 2815.7 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 can be observed with a desirable rate specific capacitance of 765 F g−1 at 20 A g−1. Fortunately, the capacitive behaviors of the obtained porous Co3O4 nanowire electrodes are superior among reported cobalt oxides, and the excellent coulombic efficiency (about 100%) and good cycling property demonstrate high electrochemical stability and tremendous potential for high performance supercapacitors.