Stabilized TiN nanowire arrays for high-performance and flexible supercapacitors

Nano Lett. 2012 Oct 10;12(10):5376-81. doi: 10.1021/nl302761z. Epub 2012 Sep 7.

Abstract

Metal nitrides have received increasing attention as electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors (SCs). However, most of them are suffered from poor cycling stability. Here we use TiN as an example to elucidate the mechanism causing the capacitance loss. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses revealed that the instability is due to the irreversible electrochemical oxidation of TiN during the charging/discharging process. Significantly, we demonstrate for the first time that TiN can be stabilized without sacrificing its electrochemical performance by using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/KOH gel as the electrolyte. The polymer electrolyte suppresses the oxidation reaction on electrode surface. Electrochemical studies showed that the TiN solid-state SCs exhibit extraordinary stability up to 15,000 cycles and achieved a high volumetric energy density of 0.05 mWh/cm(3). The capability of effectively stabilizing nitride materials could open up new opportunities in developing high-performance and flexible SCs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.