Laser Additive Manufacturing of Three-Dimensional Ti/TiN Nanotube Arrays with Hierarchical Pore Structures and...

Titanium-based composites hold great promise in versatile functional application fields, including supercapacitors. However, conventional subtractive methods for preparing complex-shaped titanium-based composites generally suffer from several significant shortcomings, including low efficiency, strictly simple geometry, low specific surface area, and poor electrochemical performance of the products. Herein, three-dimensional composites of Ti/TiN nanotube arrays with hierarchically porous structures were prepared using the additive manufacturing method of selective laser melting combined with anodic oxidation and nitridation. The resultant Ti/TiN nanotube array composites exhibit good electrical conductivity, ultrahigh specific surface areas, and outstanding supercapacitor performances featuring the unique combination of a large specific capacitance of 134.4 mF/cm² and a high power density of 4.1 mW/cm², which was remarkably superior to that of their counterparts. This work is anticipated to provide new insights into the facile and efficient preparation of high-performance structural and functional devices with arbitrarily complex geometries and good overall performances.