Tuning Hierarchical Ferric Nanostructures-Decorated Diatomite for Supercapacitors

• Main Authors: Ming Hao Wu, Kai Lin Li, Xin Yu Zhang, Ping Gan, Jia Lin Ge, Dan Ning Tian, De Bin Jiang, Xiao Ying Liu, Yu Xin Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2018-12-01
• Series: Nanoscale Research Letters
• Subjects: Porous materials; Nanocomposites; Hierarchical structure; Supercapacitors
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s11671-018-2822-9
• ISSN: 1931-7573; 1556-276X

Abstract FeOOH nanosheets on porous diatomite have been successfully prepared by a facile two-step hydrothermal approach for supercapacitors, and then α-Fe2O3 and γ-Fe2O3 nanostructures are obtained via calcination under different atmospheres and temperatures. The morphologies and structures of all the samples are investigated in detail to make the hierarchical architecture clear. Besides, systemic tests are carried out in 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte to characterize the electrochemical properties of these materials. Among the iron-related composite electrodes, diatomite@FeOOH owns the highest specific capacitance (157.9 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1) and best cycling performance (98.95% retention after 1000 cycles), which is considered to be a potential material for high-performance supercapacitors. Furthermore, the synthesizing strategy can be extended to the preparation of other metallic oxide-derived functional materials towards energy storage and conversion.