Hierarchically mesoporous micro/nanostructured CoP nanowire electrodes for enhanced performance supercapacitors

The development of effective and high capacitive electrode materials for supercapacitor applications is highly desired. CoP nanowires are prepared by hydrothermal-oxidation-phosphidation method. As a novel electrode material for supercapacitors operating in alkaline aqueous electrolyte, the CoP nanowire electrode exhibits relatively high specific capacitance of 558 F g(-1) at a current density of 1 A g(-1), maintains a stable cycling life with 98% of the initial capacitance after continuous 5000 cycles. Furthermore, the CoP nanowire electrode can reach up to a high energy density of 23.4 W h Kg(-1) at a power density of 274 W Kg(-1). Moreover, it is found that as-prepared CoP nanowire electrode delivers substantially enhanced specific capacitance and rate performance compared with the Co3O4 nanowire electrode. These results demonstrate that the CoP nanowires could be an attractive electrode material for high-performance supercapacitor applications.