Morphology-controlled synthesis of one-dimensional zinc molybdate nanorods for high-performance pseudocapacitor electrode application

Nanorod-shaped Zinc molybdate (ZnMoO4) materials have been prepared using a cetyl-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) template-assisted hydrothermal synthesis, followed by subsequent calcination process. The morphology and size of the ZnMoO4 can be altered by adjusting the concentration of CTAB. The optimal concentration of CTAB provides nanorod-shaped ZnMoO4, which accordingly determines the electrochemical features of prepared supercapacitor electrodes. The electrochemical properties were examined using cyclic voltammetric (CV) and chronopotentiometric (CP) techniques. The cyclic voltammetric studies confirm the pseudocapacitor mechanism with the specific capacitance of 779 Fg−1 at a scan rate of 5 mVs−1. Furthermore, the chronopotentiometric studies deliver the specific capacitance of 540 Fg−1 at a current density of 1 Ag−1. Besides, the ZnMoO4 demonstrated outstanding cyclic stability and the capacitance retention of about 90% was observed even after continuous 3000 cycles at a scan rate of 100 mVs−1. This endeavor demonstrated an important promising approach to synthesize ZnMoO4 nanorods with high specific capacitance, rate capability and superior cycle stability, which have attractive interest to be the candidate for electrode materials towards high-performance supercapacitor applications.