Electrochemical capacitance performance of high surface area, porous hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanorods

High surface area, porous nanostructures have attracted research interest for supercapacitors due to their high power density and long cycle life. Herein, porous hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) nanostructures have been synthesized via ferrous oxyhydroxide (alpha-FeOOH) as a precursor material. The hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) nanorods have been prepared by heating alpha-FeOOH at 300 degrees C for 3 h under an air atmosphere. The prepared porous alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods are polycrystalline with a high surface area of 197 m(2) g(-1) with a pore diameter of 8.9 nm. The electrochemical capacitance performance of alpha-Fe2O3 nanostructures has been evaluated. The high discharge capacitance is 372 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1) with high capacitance retention of about 83% observed upon charge-discharge cycling after 3000 cycles. The high discharge rate and cyclic stability are attributed to the porous nature and high surface area of alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods. As alpha-Fe2O3 is economic and environmentally friendly nature, it has potential application for supercapacitors.

Automated summary

In this study, porous hematite nanostructures were synthesized and their electrochemical performance as supercapacitors was evaluated. The results showed that the porous alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods exhibited high discharge capacitance and cyclic stability.