Characterization and Pseudo-Capacitance Performance of Porous Co3O4 Nanorods Synthesized by Thermal Decomposition

Porous Co 3 O 4 nanorods were synthesized by the thermolysis of organometallic cobalt oxalate precursor via ultrasonic assisted method. FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM and BET were applied to characterize the effect of thermal treatment temperature on the properties of porous Co 3 O 4 nanorods. A three-electrode system was used to perform cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements to study the electrochemical behaviours of Co 3 O 4 nanorods modified nickel foam electrodes. Compared with Co 3 O 4 prepared by pyrolysis at various temperatures, Co 3 O 4 nanorods obtained at 300 °C had the highest specific capacitance of 226.80 F·g -1 at a current density of 1 A·g -1 in the potential range of -0.4 to 0.6 V (vs. Hg/HgO). After performing 1000 cycles in 2 M KOH electrolyte, 99.76% of specific capacitance was retained, showing the excellent stability of Co 3 O 4 nanorods modified electrode.