Nitrogen-Doped Nanoporous Anodic Stainless Steel Foils towards Flexible Supercapacitors

Abstract

In this work, we report the fabrication and enhanced supercapacitive performance of nitrogen-doped nanoporous stainless steel foils, which have been prepared by electrochemical anodization and subsequent thermal annealing in ammonia atmosphere. The nanoporous oxide layers are grown on type-304 stainless steel foil with optimal thickness ~11.9 µm. The N-doped sample exhibits high average areal capacitance of 321.3 mF·cm−2 at a current density of 1.0 mA·cm−2, 3.6 times of increment compared with untreated one. Structural and electrochemical characterizations indicate that the significant enhancement is correlated to the high charge transfer efficiency from nitriding nanosheet products Fe3N. Our report here may provide new insight on the development of high-performance, low-cost and binder-free supercapacitor electrodes for flexible and portable electronic device applications with multiple anions.