Enhancing electrochemical performance of TiO2 microsphere electrodes for supercapacitors via a simple heat treatment

The wettability of the electrode is critical to the performance of supercapacitor. In this work, a simple heat treatment strategy was applied to modify the electrochemical performance of TiO2 microsphere electrode. This heat treatment increases a large number of micropores and moderate mesopores while reducing the hydrophobic groups on the surface of TiO2, thereby improving the electrochemical performance of the TiO2 microsphere electrode. After heat treatment, the areal capacitance of the TiO2 microsphere electrode increased from 4.95 to 58.58 mF/cm(2) at a current density of 1 mA/cm(2), and the capacitance retention rate still retained 96.9% after 10,000 cycles. This simple heat treatment modification method provides considerable potential for the application of supercapacitors in the field of energy storage.

Automated summary

A simple heat treatment strategy was used to modify the electrolytic performance of TiO2 microsphere electrode, resulting in increased micropores, moderate mesopores, and reduced hydrophobic groups on the surface of TiO2. This improved the electrochemical performance of the TiO2 microsphere electrode. After heat treatment, the areal capacitance of the TiO2 microsphere electrode increased from 4.95 to 58.58 mF/cm(2) at a current density of 1 mA/cm(2), with a capacitance retention rate of 96.9% after 10,000 cycles. This simple heat treatment modification method shows great potential for the application of supercapacitors in energy storage.