Novel Silicon Nanowire Electrodes Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition Method for High-Performance Electrochemical Capacitors

Abstract

We report on novel electrochemical capacitors with silicon nanowire (Si NW) electrodes prepared by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Si NWs were deposited on conductive stainless steel through the CVD method to form electrodes of the electrochemical capacitors. Electrochemical characteristics of Si NW electrodes were investigated and compared with those of bulk silicon wafer electrodes. Si NWs resulted in larger area-specific capacitance (> 10 times) than bulk silicon, which is attributed to the enhanced surface area of NW morphology. NWs also exhibited high maximum and average mass-specific capacitances of 510 and 117 F g(-1), respectively. Our study demonstrates that semiconductor Si NWs can be useful as electrodes of high-performance supercapacitors and next generation NWs-based architecture for electrochemical energy storages.