CNTs/TiO2 composites and its electrochemical properties after UV light irradiation

Abstract

Due to the unique structure and special physical and chemical properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have potential applications in supercapacitors. Recently, CNTs and their composites as a kind of supercapacitor electrode material have been made many achievements. In this paper, a CNTs/TiO2 composite was prepared successfully with hydrothermal method, and was used as a supercapacitor electrode material. After the tests on surface chemistry and electrochemical property, it was found that: (1) the capacitance of the CNTs/TiO2 composite electrode increased by 56%, compared with pure CNTs electrode, (2) after UV light irradiation pretreatment, due to the special photoelectric effect of TiO2 which improves the interfacial property and electrochemical property of the composite electrode, the capacitance further increased by 53% when compared with the electrode without the pretreatment, and meanwhile, the cycle life also increased significantly, i.e., the capacitance was up to 97%, after 100 cycles of charge and discharge, (3) due to the improvement of the interfacial property, the ion transport in the composite electrode became smoother, and the pore utilization was also effectively enhanced during high-current charge and discharge, and (4) due to the generation of a large amount of oxygen-containing groups on the TiO2 surface after UV pretreatment, the CNTs/TiO2 composite electrode earned extra large pseudo capacitance, and therefore the capacitance of the composite electrode was further increased. Based on the experimental results in the present study a new process to improve surface character and electrochemical property of the electrode has been developed by using a metal oxide as both pseudo capacitive material and surface modification material of the composites with a UV light irradiation.