Hydrogenated TiO2 nanotube arrays for supercapacitors

We report a new and general strategy for improving the capacitive properties of TiO(2) materials for supercapacitors, involving the synthesis of hydrogenated TiO(2) nanotube arrays (NTAs). The hydrogenated TiO(2) (denoted as H-TiO(2)) were obtained by calcination of anodized TiO(2) NTAs in hydrogen atmosphere in a range of temperatures between 300 to 600 °C. The H-TiO(2) NTAs prepared at 400 °C yields the largest specific capacitance of 3.24 mF cm(-2) at a scan rate of 100 mV s(-1), which is 40 times higher than the capacitance obtained from air-annealed TiO(2) NTAs at the same conditions. Importantly, H-TiO(2) NTAs also show remarkable rate capability with 68% areal capacitance retained when the scan rate increase from 10 to 1000 mV s(-1), as well as outstanding long-term cycling stability with only 3.1% reduction of initial specific capacitance after 10,000 cycles. The prominent electrochemical capacitive properties of H-TiO(2) are attributed to the enhanced carrier density and increased density of hydroxyl group on TiO(2) surface, as a result of hydrogenation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that H-TiO(2) NTAs is a good scaffold to support MnO(2) nanoparticles. The capacitor electrodes made by electrochemical deposition of MnO(2) nanoparticles on H-TiO(2) NTAs achieve a remarkable specific capacitance of 912 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 10 mV s(-1) (based on the mass of MnO(2)). The ability to improve the capacitive properties of TiO(2) electrode materials should open up new opportunities for high-performance supercapacitors.