One-pot controllable synthesis of flower-like CoFe2O4/FeOOH nanocomposites for high-performance supercapacitors

•Facile synthetic approach: one-pot hydrothermal synthesis without any surfactant for the first time.•Novel CoFe2O4/FeOOH composites: controllable.•High specific capacitance: 332.4 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1.•Excellent cycling stability: 91.3% retention after 1000 cycles at 5 A g−1.

In this work, we developed a one-pot approach to fabricate CoFe2O4/FeOOH nanocomposites without any surfactant. By tailoring the urea concentration, flower-like nanostructures of CoFe2O4/FeOOH nanocomposites can be obtained. The electrochemical properties of the CoFe2O4/FeOOH electrodes were elucidated by cyclic voltammograms, galvanostatic charge/discharge tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 6 M KOH electrolyte. Flower-like CoFe2O4/FeOOH exhibited a specific capacitance of 332.4 F g−1 at the current density of 0.5 A g−1, and excellent cycling stability (91.3% retention after 1000 cycles, 5 A g−1). These findings suggested that this facile synthetic strategy could be useful to design and synthesize hierarchical electrode nanocomposites with enhanced supercapacitive performance.