Microwave-assisted synthesis of Ru/mesoporous carbon composites for supercapacitors

• Ruthenium/mesoporous carbons (Ru/MCs) are synthesized by a simple method.
• The specific capacitance of Ru/MC electrode retains 287 F g−1 after 1000 cycles.
• The contribution of Ru nanoparticles reaches 48.7% of the total capacitance.
• The Ru/MC supercapacitors show excellent cycle stability.

Ruthenium/mesoporous carbon (Ru/MC) composites for supercapacitors were synthesized from RuCl3 and peanut shell-derived MC by a microwave-assisted heating glycol reduction method. The specific capacitance of obtained Ru/MC composite increased with the increasing Ru mass loaded, maintaining 287 F g−1 even after 1000 cycles at 20% loading of Ru for Ru20/MC. The contribution of Ru nanoparticles reached 48.7% of the total capacitance. The energy density of Ru20/MC capacitor in 6 M KOH electrolyte only dropped from 10.5 Wh kg−1 to 9.8 Wh kg−1 with the energy density retention of 93.3% after 1000 cycles, showing excellent cycle stability. The results indicate that the one-step microwave-assisted glycol reduction of RuCl3 is a simple technique to the preparation of high performance Ru/MC composites for supercapacitors.

Ruthenium/mesoporous carbon (Ru/MC) composites prepared by a microwave-assisted heating glycol reduction method show high capacitance as supercapacitor electrodes in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide