Facile synthesis of hierarchical CuO nanorod arrays on carbon nanofibers for high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract A facile low-temperature solution method combined with a post simple annealing treatment has been used to synthesize one-dimensional hierarchical hybrid nanostructure composed of CuO nanorod arrays grown on carbon nanofibers. The electrochemical properties of this hybrid nanostructure have been evaluated as electrode material for supercapacitor. The material exhibits a high capacitance of 398 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and even shows a capacitance of 153 F g−1 at an extremely high current density of 50 A g−1, with high power density of 10 kW kg−1 in 3 M KOH electrolyte. The electrochemical stability of the material for 5000 continuous cycles demonstrates excellent cycling performance at different current densities. This high performance has been related to the structural features, including shape and size of well defined hierarchical nanorod arrays and robust carbon nanofibers backbone. In view of the high electrochemical performance and the facile and cost-effective synthesis, this hierarchical CNF@CuO NR might hold as a promising electrode material for high-performance supercapacitor applications.