Facile synthesis and characterization of rough surface V2O5 nanomaterials for pseudo-supercapacitor electrode material with high capacitance

Abstract

V2O5 nanomaterials with rough surface were synthesized using commercial V2O5, ethanol (EtOH) and H2O as the starting materials by a simple hydrothermal route and combination of calcination. The electrochemical properties of V2O5 nanomaterials as electrodes in a supercapacitor device were measured using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) method. V2O5 nanomaterials exhibit the specific capacitance of 423 F g-1 at the current density of 0.5 A g-1 and retain 327 F g-1 even at the high current density of 10 A g-1. The influence of the ratio of EtOH/H2O, the calcined time and temperature on the morphology, purity and electrochemical property of the products is discussed in detail. The results revealed that the ratio of EtOH/H2O = 10/25 and calcination at 400°C for 2-4 h are favourable for preparing V2O5 nanomaterials and they exhibited the best electrochemical property. The novel morphology and high specific surface area are the main factors that contribute to high electrochemical performance of V2O5 nanomaterials during the charge-discharge processes. It turns out that V2O5 nanomaterials with rough surface is an ideal material for supercapacitor electrode in the present work.