A nanostructured electrode of IrOx foil on the carbon nanotubes for supercapacitors

IrOx nanofoils (IrOxNF) of high surface area are sputtered on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT) in the preparation of a structured electrode on a stainless steel (SUS) substrate for supercapacitor applications. This IrOx/CNT/SUS electrode is featured with intriguing IrOx curved foils of 2-3 nm in thickness and 400-500 nm in height, grown on top of the vertically aligned CNT film with a tube diameter of ∼ 40 nm. These nanofoils are moderately oxidized during reactive sputtering and appeared translucent under the electron microscope. Detailed structural analysis shows that they are comprised of contiguous grains of iridium metal, iridium dioxide, and glassy iridium oxide. Considerable Raman line broadening is also evidenced for the attributed nanosized iridium oxides. Two capacitive properties of the electrode are significantly enhanced with addition of the curved IrOx foils. First, IrOxNF reduces the electrode Ohmic resistance, which was measured at 3.5 Ω cm2 for the CNT/SUS and 2.5 Ω cm2 for IrOxNF/CNT/SUS using impedance spectroscopy. Second, IrOxNF raises the electrode capacitance from 17.7 F g-1 (CNT/SUS) to 317 F g-1 (IrOx/CNT/SUS), measured with cyclic voltammetry. This notable increase is further confirmed by the galvanostatic charge/discharge experiment, measuring 370 F g-1 after 2000 uninterrupted cycles between - 1.0 and 0.0 V (versus Ag/AgCl).