High-performance supercapacitors of hydrous ruthenium oxide/mesoporous carbon composites

The amorphous hydrous ruthenium oxide/mesoporous carbon composites (denoted as RuO₂·xH₂O/MC), obtained by loading small amount of amorphous hydrous ruthenium oxide nanoparticles ranged from 0.9 to 5.4% by weight of Ru (denoted as RuO₂·xH₂O) on mesoporous carbon (MC), were investigated for the first time and were used for supercapacitors. Electrochemical measurements showed that RuO₂·xH₂O/MC composites not only have an enhanced specific capacitance but also retain the superior rate capability of MC. The RuO₂·xH₂O/MC composite with Ru loading of 3.6 wt% exhibited an increase of the specific capacitance of approximately 57% (from 115 to 181 F/g) at the scan rate of 25 mV s⁻¹ in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ aqueous electrolyte. The specific capacitance based on the mass of RuO₂ was estimated to be 1,527 F/g, by subtracting the contribution from MC in the composite. Cycle performance tests for RuO₂·xH₂O/MC composite (3.6 wt% Ru) showed that approximately 2.8% loss of the total capacitance was observed after 1,000 cycles.