Synthesis of Fe2O3 nanorods/silver nanowires on coffee filter as low-cost and efficient electrodes for supercapacitors

A simple dip-coating method is developed to form conductive networks of silver nanowire (Ag NW) on coffee filter (CF) as an electrochemical current collector; the iron-oxide (Fe2O3) nanorods (NR) are subsequently grown directly on the surface of the Ag NW/CF as a hierarchical electrode via a cost-effective hydrothermal process for supercapacitors. The morphology and microstructure of Fe2O3 NR/Ag NW/CF were examined with a scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The electrochemical results indicate that the Fe2O3 NR/Ag NW/CF electrode shows highly reversible features and satisfactory rate abilities. Most significantly, the excellent specific capacitance achieved with Fe2O3 NR/Ag NW/CF electrodes is as great as 287.4 F g− 1; energy density 64.6 W h kg− 1 and power density 18 kW kg− 1 are obtained. The Fe2O3 NR/Ag NW/CF electrode has acceptable cycling stability after 5000 cycles.