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Facile and Sustainable Synthesis of Co 3 O 4 @Hollow‐Carbon‐Fiber for a Binder‐Free Supercapacitor Electrode
Author(s) -
Liu Wei,
Fan Huailin,
Shen Wenzhong,
Qu Shijie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistryselect
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 2365-6549
DOI - 10.1002/slct.201601330
Subject(s) - supercapacitor , materials science , electrode , carbonization , chemical engineering , calcination , capacitance , electrolyte , electrochemistry , carbon fibers , fiber , current density , activated carbon , nanotechnology , composite material , composite number , catalysis , adsorption , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering , scanning electron microscope , physics , quantum mechanics
The carbon fibers with hollow structure were prepared by carbonization of renewable and inexpensive cotton. The surface of hollow carbon fiber was further modified by Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles via a simple impregnation method and subsequent calcination process. The prepared Co 3 O 4 @cotton‐derived hollow carbon fibers (CHCFs) maintained the macroscopic morphology and flexibility of the cotton. As binder‐free electrodes, Co 3 O 4 @CHCFs exhibited much better electrochemical behavior than that of pure Co 3 O 4 . Especially, Co 3 O 4 @CHCF‐2 showed a high specific capacitance of 566.89 F g −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 and high capacitance retention of 69.38 % at 15 A g −1 in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Using Co 3 O 4 @CHCFs as positive electrode and cotton‐based activated carbon (AC) as negative electrode, our asymmetric supercapacitor exhibited high energy density and excellent cycling stability. Moreover, this electrode material can be easily prepared on a large scale due to its sustainability, low cost, facile preparation and environmental friendliness.