Preparation and characterization of α-MoO3 nanobelt and its application in supercapacitor

In this work, we introduce a simple approach to synthesize orthorhombic MoO3 (α-MoO3) nanobelts with dichloromethane (CH2Cl2). More importantly, dichloromethane acts as a reagent to slowly provide H+ through hydrolysis, which facilitates to manipulate the morphology of the as-obtained products. The electrochemical properties of the samples were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry. The results show that the maximum specific capacitance of the α-MoO3 nanobelts is much higher than those of MoO3 nanoplates with 280 F g−1, MoO3 nanowires with 110 F g−1 and MoO3 nanorods with 30 F g−1. Furthermore, the charge-discharge stability measurements indicate a retention of specific capacitance of about 90% after 500 cycles at a current density of 0.25 A g−1, demonstrating that the α-MoO3 nanobelts can serve as excellent electrode materials for supercapacitors.