Synthesis of carbon nanowires as electrochemical electrode materials

One dimension carbon nanowires were synthesized by direct current hydrogen arc discharge. The nanowires with an average diameter of ~ 15 nm were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Raman, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Electrochemical test indicated that the carbon nanowires exhibited a high electrochemical performance. Such nanowires as electrochemical electrical double layer capacitance for potential energy storage applications exhibit a high specific capacitance of ~ 200 F g− 1 at a charge and discharge current density of 1 A/g with excellent cycling ability. These results indicate that this simple synthesis technique for providing carbon nanowire materials has great potential in various applications such as energy storage.

► High quality carbon nanowires were synthesized by direct current arc discharge. ► Carbon nanowires exhibited a better electrochemical performance. ► This carbon nanowires have a great potential application in supercapacitor.