Hierarchically porous Co3O4 film with mesoporous walls prepared via liquid crystalline template for supercapacitor application

Hierarchically porous Co3O4 film is prepared by a cathodic electrodeposition via liquid crystalline template. The as-prepared Co3O4 film has a net-like structure of interconnected nanoflakes with a thickness of 15–20 nm. Interestingly, the Co3O4 nanoflakes possess mesoporous walls ranging from 2 to 3 nm. As cathode material for supercapacitors, the hierarchically porous Co3O4 film exhibits superior supercapacitor performances with high specific capacitances (443 F g− 1 at 2 A g− 1 and 334 F g− 1 at 40 A g− 1) as well as excellent cycle life, making it suitable for high-performance supercapacitor application. The improved supercapacitor performances are due to its unique hierarchically porous morphological characteristics, which provide fast ion and electron transfer, large reaction surface area, resulting in fast reaction kinetics.

► Hierarchically porous Co3O4 film is prepared via a liquid crystal template.
► Co3O4 film with high capacitance as cathode material for supercapacitors.
► Hierarchically porous structure is favorable for fast ion and electron transfer.