Synthesis of three-dimensional hierarchical urchinlike tungsten trioxide microspheres for high-performance supercapacitor electrode

Abstract

In this work, hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) urchinlike WO3 microspheres with a self-assembled nanorod core, and a connected and quasiconnected nanothorn network shell were synthesized with the hydrothermal method. For the surface or near-surface regions of pseudocapacitive materials that are involved in the Faradaic reaction, the urchinlike WO3 special microstructure provided more effective charge-storage area, exhibiting a high specific capacitance of 488.78 F g−1, low average equivalent-series resistance of 0.966 Ω cm−2, and excellent cycling stability (84.75% of its initial value after the 10,000 cycles). This performance indicates the urchinlike WO3 microspheres are promising electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors.