Microwave synthesis of highly oxidized and defective carbon nanotubes for enhancing the performance of supercapacitors

Microwave induced reaction is presented as a means to generate highly defective and oxidized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for fabrication of supercapacitor electrodes. CNTs were treated for different durations to generate varying amounts of defects and oxidation levels. This was evidenced by increase in BET surface area, D to G ratio and oxygen content with increase in treatment time. Under the given conditions, a treatment time of 40 min was optimum, beyond which the increase in any of these properties as well as in specific capacitance was minimal. The increase in surface area enhanced the double layer capacitance while the oxygenation might lead to pseudocapacitance. Together these make microwave treatment of CNTs an attractive approach to enhance supercapacitor performance.