Preparation and electrochemical properties of mesoporous α-Fe2O3 nanowires for supercapacitor application

Mesoporous alpha-Fe2O3 nanowires have been prepared through solid-state thermal conversion of ferrous oxalate dihydrate precursor for supercapacitor application. The possible growth mechanism of the FeC2O4 center dot 2H(2)O nanowires was proposed based on a series of time-dependent experiments. The specific surface area and pore size distribution of the mesoporous alpha-Fe2O3 nanowires were calculated to be about 70.6 m(2) g(-1) and 2.5 nm, respectively. Furthermore, electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the as-prepared mesoporous alpha-Fe2O3 nanowire electrode delivers a high specific capacitance up to 267.5 F g(-1) at 2 A g(-1) and good cycle performance (87% capacitance retention under 2000 cycles). The excellent supercapacitor performance of the alpha-Fe2O3 nanowires can be ascribed mainly to the unique mesoporous structure with large specific surface area, which provide fast electron/ion transfer path as well as large reaction surface area.