Facile fabrication of porous Co3O4 nanowires for high performance supercapacitors

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.