Facile synthesis of high electrical conductive CoP via solid-state synthetic routes for supercapacitors

Abstract Co-P precursor was prepared by a mechanical alloying method and then is controlled to synthesis of CoP phase through an annealing method. The optimal conditions of ball milling and annealing temperature are investigated. The CoP exhibits higher electrical conductivity than graphite and cobalt oxide, showing excellent pseudocapacitive properties due its high electrical conductivity which can result in a fast electron transfer in high rate charge–discharge possess. The as-obtained CoP electrode achieves a high specific capacitance of 447.5 F/g at 1 A/g, and displays an excellent rate capability as well as good cycling stability. Besides, the asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) based on the CoP as the positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as the negative electrode was assembled and displayed a high rate capability (60% of the capacitance is retained when the current density increased from 1 A/g to 12 A/g), excellent cycling stability (96.7% of the initial capacitance is retained after 5000 cycles), and a superior specific energy of 19 Wh/kg at a power density of 350.8 W/kg. The results suggest that the CoP electrode materials have a great potential for developing high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices.