Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of nanostructured tin oxide for electrochemical redox supercapacitors

Amorphous nanostructured tin oxide (SnO(2)) was potentiodynamically deposited onto inexpensive stainless steel (SS) electrode. Potentiodynamic deposition was carried out at a scan rate of 200 mV s(-1) from an electrolyte solution of 0.1 M tin dichloride + 0.5 M sodium nitrate + 0.4 M nitric acid. The SnO(2) deposited SS electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) at various scan rates in 0.1 M Na(2)SO(4) for electrochemical redox supercapacitors. A maximum specific capacitance (SC) of 285 F g(-1) was obtained from CV at a scan rate of 10 mV s(-1). For the same electrode, a SC value of 101 F g(-1) was obtained even at a high scan rate of 200 mV s(-1), indicating high power characteristics of the material. The SC was found to increase with the increase in specific mass of SnO(2). Long cycle-life and stability of SnO(2) were also demonstrated. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.