Cuprous Chloride Nanocubes Grown on Copper Foil for Pseudocapacitor Electrodes

In this paper, for the first time, we report the synthesis of nanoscale cuprous chloride (CuCl) cubic structure by a facile hydrothermal route. A possible mechanism for the growth of those nanostructures is proposed based on the experimental results. It is discovered that the existence of HCl could affect the surface of CuCl nanocubes. This unique cube-like nanostructure with rough surface significantly enhances the electroactive surface areas of CuCl, leading to a high special capacitance of 376 mF cm^-2 at the current density of 1.0 mA cm^-2. There is still a good reversibility with cycling efficiency of 88.8 % after 2,000 cycles, demonstrating its excellent long-term cycling stability and might be the promising candidates as the excellent electrode material.