Molybdenum oxide nanowires based supercapacitors with enhanced capacitance and energy density in ethylammonium nitrate electrolyte

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2015-11, Vol.650, p.123-126
• Main Authors: Sarfraz, Mansoor, Aboud, Mohamed F.A., Shakir, Imran
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Capacitance; Devices; Electric potential; Electrochemical capacitance; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Energy density; Energy storage devices; Ethylammonium nitrate; Ionic liquid; Molybdenum oxide nanowires; Nanowires; Nitrates; Supercapacitors
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.07.274

Orthorhombic molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) nanowires as an electrode for electrochemical supercapacitors in ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) electrolyte exhibits a high specific capacitance of 288 Fg−1, which is 8 times higher than the specific capacitance obtained from MoO3 nanowires in water based electrolyte. MoO3 nanowires in EAN electrolyte exhibit energy density of 46.32 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 20.3 kW kg−1 with outstanding cycling stability with specific capacitance retention of 96% over 3000 cycles. We believe that the superior performance of the MoO3 nanowires in EAN based electrolyte is primarily due to its relatively low viscosity (0.28 P at 25 °C), high electrical conductivity (20 mS cm−1 at 25 °C) and large working voltage window. The results clearly demonstrate that EAN as electrolyte is one of the most promising electrolyte for high performance large scale energy storage devices. [Display omitted] •Synthesis of single crystalline molybdenum oxide nanowires.•Ethylammonium Nitrate as an electrolyte for high performance large scale psuedocapacitor based energy storage devices.•Molybdenum oxide nanowires based electrodes shows 8 fold enhancement in Ethylammonium Nitrate electrolyte as compared to water based electrolytes.•The devices in Ethylammonium Nitrate exhibit excellent stability, retaining 96% of its initial capacity after 3000 cycles.