A Hydrous Ruthenium Oxide-Carbon Nanofibers Composite Electrodes Prepared by Electrospinning

Ruthenium-embedded carbon nanofibers were prepared by the processes of stabilization, carbonation, and activation after electrospinning a composite solution of ruthenium(III) acetylacetonate and polyacrylonitrile in N,N-dimethylformamide. When Ru particles were embedded in the carbon nanofibers, the average pore diameter increased from . The Ru particles were embedded randomly within the carbon fibers, and the size distribution of the Ru particles ranged from . The specific capacitance of the carbon nanofiber without the Ru loading was , while that of Ru-carbon nanofibers increased to 280% as . This was attributed to the synergistic effect of electric double-layer capacitance as a result of the expansion of the average pore diameter as well as the pseudocapacitance by the well-dispersed Ru particles.