Synthesis and electrochemical properties of ordered mesoporous carbon supported well-dispersed cobalt oxide nanoparticles for supercapacitor

Recent progress in porous carbons incorporated with guest metal oxide nanoparticles has attracted huge attention in energy-related area. Well-dispersed cobalt oxide nanoparticles supported on ordered mesoporous carbon have been synthesized under impregnation conditions with post ammonia treatment. The composites have not only retained ordered mesoporous structure of the carbon support with high specific surface area over 1000 m2/g, but also shown a good control of cobalt oxide nanoparticles dispersion with uniform size. The well-retained mesoporous structure helps to facilitate the ion diffusion and then contribute electric double-layer capacitance. The cobalt oxide nanoparticle loading contributes important pseudocapacitance associated with Faradic charge transfer reactions between the cobalt oxides and the electrolyte. The composites loaded with 12.7 wt% cobalt oxide nanoparticles possess significant pseudocapacitance fraction of 524.8 F/g.