Pulse electrodeposited RuO2 electrodes for high-performance supercapacitor applications

The present work addresses high-performance Ruthenium Oxide (RuO2) electrodes prepared by using a simple pulse electrodeposition method. For the comparison purpose, two different precursors, namely, ruthenium (III) nitrosyl sulphate (RuNS) and ruthenium trichloride (RuCl3), were used in this study. The coatings were subjected to material characterisation such as Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Transmission electron microscopy as well as electrochemical characterisation such as Cyclic Voltammetry, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and charge/discharge. The RuNS-RuO2 coating exhibited excellent specific capacitance (1724 F/g at 5 A/g) with a remarkable rate capability. This value is significantly higher (52%) than the value obtained for RuCl3-RuO2 electrode material at 5 A/g. The findings provide valuable information on the potential use of RuNS as a precursor for synthesising RuO2 and pulse electrodeposition process to produce electrodes for supercapacitors.