Effect of hydrothermal treatment on the performance of RuO2–Ta2O5/Ti electrodes for use in supercapacitors

Hydrothermal treatment (HTT) of RuO2–Ta2O5/Ti electrode, as a method for improving their performance, for use in supercapacitors was investigated.The results show that HTT significantly enhances the stability of the electrodes. The specific capacitance of electrodes, subject to HTT in the temperature range 180–250 °C remains unchanged after 1000 CV cycles between −0.2 and 1.1 V vs. SCE; without HTT a decay to 97% of the initial is observed. The results also show that HTT decreases the activity of the electrodes for O2 and H2 evolution and increases the voltage window by 56–135 mV for supercapacitors, but with a specific capacitance decrease of 7–27%. XPS analyses show the existence of more hydroxides after the HTT, which leads to a little increase in the interplanar distance as indicated in the XDR results. Contact angle measurements show the presence of a more hydrophilic surface after HTT.