One-step synthesis of TiO₂ nanorod arrays on Ti foil for supercapacitor application

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanorod arrays grown directly on Ti metal foil were prepared by a facile one-step hydrothermal method, in which the Ti foil serves as both substrate and precursor. The nanorods are tetragonal rutile single crystal with growth orientation along the [001] direction. The electrochemical properties of the TiO2 nanorod arrays were systematically investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy using a three-electrode system. As a result, the TiO2 nanorod arrays exhibit good areal specific capacitance and excellent cyclic stability by retaining more than 98% of the initial specific capacitance after 1000 cycles. In addition, a good flexibility of the Ti foil with TiO2 nanorod arrays was demonstrated by the stable electrochemical performance under different bending angles, which indicates that TiO2 nanorod arrays grown on Ti foil could be a promising electrode material for flexible supercapacitor application.