Pseudocapacitance of α-CoMoO₄ nanoflakes in non-aqueous electrolyte and its bi-functional electro catalytic activity for methanol oxidation

Nanocrystalline cobalt molybdate (CoMoO₄) nanoflakes were grown directly on carbon fibre cloth (CFC) via a simple hydrothermal method without any template or surfactant. A symmetric supercapacitor was fabricated using CoMoO₄ nanoflakes/CFC as both negative and positive electrodes. The device has delivered the maximum specific capacitance of 8.3 F g^-1 at a constant current density of 1 A g^-1 in organic electrolyte. It offers the reasonable energy (2.6 Wh kg^-1) and power density (748.8 W kg^-1) as comparable to the carbon based symmetric supercapacitors. As a catalyst for methanol oxidation, the CoMoO₄ nanoflakes showed high current density (25 mA cm^-2) and low onset potential (0.38 V). The impressive bi-functional electrochemical activity of CoMoO₄ on CFC is mainly attributed to its porous microstructure, where reasonable electrical conductivity resulted from binder-free and intimate metal oxide/substrate integration.