A hybrid supercapacitor fabricated with an activated carbon as cathode and an urchin-like TiO2 as anode

• The urchin-like TiO2 was successfully fabricated using the hydrothermal method.
• The Activated carbon/urchin-like TiO2 hybrid supercapacitor was fabricated.
• The urchin-like TiO2 possesses large specific surface area.
• The fabricated hybrid supercapacitor exhibit superior electrochemical performance.

In this paper, an asymmetric hybrid supercapacitor is fabricated using activated carbon as the cathode and urchin-like TiO2 as the anode. To investigate the electrochemical performance of the hybrid supercapacitor according to TiO2 growth, the reaction time during hydrothermal treatment is controlled. The electrochemical performance of the hybrid supercapacitor using urchin-like TiO2 with a reaction time of 20 h exhibits the best electrochemical performance. It has a capacitance of 61.2 F g−1, capacitance retention of 89% after 5000 cycles at 3 A g−1 and energy density of 50.6 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 194.4 kW kg−1. Therefore, the urchin-like TiO2 anode material has the potential to be used in electric vehicles (EVs).