Synthesis of Ru/carbon nanocomposites by polyol process for electrochemical supercapacitor electrodes

The Ru/C nanocomposites with Ru loadings of 20 similar to 60 wt.% were prepared by the polyol process in the presence of XC-72 carbon. TEM observations indicated that Ru nanoparticles were uniform with the average size of about 3.1 similar to 3.5 nm, and highly dispersed on the carbon surface. After electrochemically oxidization from Ru nanoparticles to the pseudocapacitive oxide-hydroxide form, the specific capacitances of these composites were calculated by cyclic voltammetry. It was found that these composites exhibited much higher specific capacitances in comparison with the XC-72 carbon. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.