TiN nano arrays on nickel foam prepared by multi-arc ion plating for fast-charging supercapacitors

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) technologies have been widely used to produce metal nitride films on planar substrate for electrode of ultrafast charging supercapacitors. However, planar electrode structure greatly limits the energy density of device. This work, for the first time, employs multi-arc ion plating (MAIP) to efficiently prepare titanium nitride (TiN) nano arrays on 3D current collector (i.e., nickel foam). The array morphology, composition, crystal structure, electrical and electrochemical properties of TiN as a function of working pressure are investigated. The optimized electrode exhibits a large specific capacitance of 90.18 F g−1 and a good stability with capacity loss of 11.9% after 10,000 charge-discharge cycles at 1 A g−1. The assembled symmetrical supercapacitor can achieve a high energy density of 4.72 Wh kg−1 with a power density of 800 W kg−1 under current density of 1 A g−1. The general findings open a new and promising strategy in facile and efficient fabrication of electrode materials towards ultrafast charging supercapacitors.