Porous ZnO-Coated Co₃O₄ Nanorod as a High-Energy-Density Supercapacitor Material

Co 3 O 4 with a high theoretical capacitance has been widely recognized as a promising electrode material for supercapacitor, but its poor electrical conductivity and stability limit its practical applications. Here, we developed an effective synthetic route to synthesize one-dimensional (1D) porous ZnO/Co 3 O 4 heterojunction composites. Benefiting from the heterostructure to promote the charge transfer and protect Co 3 O 4 from corrosion and the 1D porous structure to improve ion diffusion and prevent structural collapse in charge and discharge process, the as-prepared ZnO/Co 3 O 4 composites exhibited an excellent capacitive performance and good cycling stability. The specific capacitance of the ZnO/Co 3 O 4 -450 (1135 F g –1 at 1 A g –1 ) was 1.4 times higher than that of Co 3 O 4 (814 F g –1 ), and the high-rate performance for ZnO/Co 3 O 4 -450 was 4.9 times better than that of Co 3 O 4 . Also, approximately 83% of its specific capacitance was retained after 5000 cycles at 10 A g –1 . Most importantly, the as-fabricated asymmetric supercapacitor, with a ZnO/Co 3 O 4 -450 positive electrode and an activated carbon negative electrode, delivered a prominent energy density of 47.7 W h kg –1 and a high power density of 7500 W kg –1 . Thus, the ZnO/Co 3 O 4 composites could serve as a high-activity material for supercapacitor and the preparation method also offers an attractive strategy to enhance the capacitive performance of Co 3 O 4 .