Facile carbonaceous microsphere templated synthesis of Co₃O₄ hollow spheres and their electrochemical performance in supercapacitors

Co₃O₄ hollow spheres assembled from nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal carbonization and calcination method. In this method, carbon spheres obtained through hydrothermal carbonization at a low temperature of 140 ℃ are used as sacrificial templates. The carbonization process was monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. Both the carbon sphere soft templates and the NH₃ released from hexamethylenetetramine play key roles in the formation of these novel hollow structures. The formation of the Co₃O₄ hollow spheres using hydrothermal carbon spheres as templates can be attributed to the synergetic effect of metal ion adsorption and heterogeneous nucleation of Co(OH)₂, which is different from the traditional adsorption theory. The as-obtained Co₃O₄ hollow microspheres exhibit excellent cycling performance and good rate capacity when used as electrode materials in supercapacitors, which can be attributed to the small particle size of Co₃O₄ and the sufficient space available to interact with the electrolytes. This facile strategy may be extended to synthesize other metal oxide hollow spheres, which may find application in sensors and catalysts due to their unique structural features.