Ultrafast-Charging Supercapacitors Based on Corn-Like Titanium Nitride Nanostructures

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Supercapacitors are crucial for energy storage.
• High charge/discharge rates and long cycle life are desired for practical applications.
• Titanium nitride (TiN) is a promising material for electrodes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the performance of ALD-made TiN in symmetric full-cell supercapacitors.
• To evaluate the rate capability, cycle stability, and self-discharge characteristics of these devices.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of TiN thin films using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD).
• Assembly of symmetric full-cell supercapacitors using TiN electrodes.
• Electrochemical characterization including cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling.

Main Results:

• Supercapacitors achieved a typical capacitance of 20.7 F cm^-3 at 1 V s^-1.
• Capacitance of 4.3 F cm^-3 was retained at a high rate of 100 V s^-1.
• Devices demonstrated 20,000 cycles with negligible capacitance loss and ultralow self-discharge (≈1 μA).

Conclusions:

• ALD-made TiN is a highly effective electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.
• The developed supercapacitors offer excellent rate capability and long-term stability.
• These findings suggest significant potential for ALD-TiN in next-generation energy storage devices.