One-Step Combustion Synthesis of CNTs Doped Fe2O3/C Nanocomposites as Electrode Materials for Supercapacitors

Carbon nanotubes doped Fe2O3/C nanocomposites have been fabricated via a simple, scalable, and cost-effective combustion synthesis approach with acid-treated CNTs, Fe(NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O, and C6H8O7 center dot H2O as starting materials. The electrochemical behaviors of the nanocomposites were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronopotentiometry (CP) in 1 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Results showed that the CNTs doped Fe2O3/C nanocomposites possessed enhanced specific capacitance (192.6 F.g(-1) at 1 A.g(-1)) and stable cycling stability (capacitance retention of similar to 82% after 1000 cycles), compared with those of Fe2O3/C (139.7 F.g(-1)/77%) and Fe2O3 (71.7 F.g(-1)/64%). The much improved electrochemical performances could be attributed to the dual conductive mechanism introduced by the addition of CNTs and the appearance of in situ formed carbon, which may simultaneously facilitate the electrochemical kinetics and prevent the aggregation of Fe2O3 nanoparticles. These electrodes have great potential for practical applications in ECs.