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Influence of Water Content on Morphology and Capacitive Performance of TiO2 Nanotube as Binder Free Supercapacitor Electrode Material Synthesized from Glycerol-Based Electrolyte
Subject area: Science,Engineering and Technology · Area of research: Energy Conversion and Storage
Abstract
Highly ordered titania nanotubes (TNTs) as a 1D nanostructured material have received a lot of interest for supercapacitor applications due to their large surface area and relatively low cost. The structural and capacitive optimization of anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays via electrolyte hydration over broad concentration ranges remains underexplored. This study systematically investigates the effect of water content (5 to 90 vol%) in a glycerol/NH4F electrolyte on the morphology and charge-storage performance of TiO2 synthesized at a constant potential of 20 V for 60 minutes. Morphological analysis reveals a strict hydration dependency for tubular growth; from ultra-low (5 vol%) and ultra-high (90 vol%) water concentrations which fail to produce nanotubes, yielding instead cracked surfaces with etching pits and non-porous passive films, respectively. Within the favorable formation window, increasing the water content from 25 to 70 vol% drives a continuous decrease in average tube diameter, from 62 nm to 43 nm at 25 and 70 vol%, respectively due to accelerated field-assisted chemical dissolution at lower electrolyte viscosities. Electrochemical characterization demonstrates that this morphological evolution directly dictates charge-storage capabilities. A maximum areal capacitance of 240 µF/cm² was achieved at 50 vol% water, significantly outperforming the 25 vol% (180 µF/cm²) and 70 vol% (150 µF/cm²) architectures due to an optimized balance of electrochemically active surface area and structural integrity. Conversely, the non-tubular architectures at 5 vol% and 90 vol% exhibit exceptionally poor capacitances of 30 and 20 µF/cm². These findings highlight the critical role of tuning electrolyte viscosity and dissolution kinetics to maximize the capacitive performance of titanium-based energy storage devices.
Keywords
water content, tio2 nanotubes, supercapacitor, glycerol electrolyte, morphology, areal capacitance.
How to cite this paper
@article{1722687,
author = {Muhammad Muhammad Muzakir, Buhari Magaji, Aliyu Aminu Sisa},
title = {Influence of Water Content on Morphology and Capacitive Performance of TiO2 Nanotube as Binder Free Supercapacitor Electrode Material Synthesized from Glycerol-Based Electrolyte},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {10},
number = {3},
pages = {19-26},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1722687.pdf},
abstract = {Highly ordered titania nanotubes (TNTs) as a 1D nanostructured material have received a lot of interest for supercapacitor applications due to their large surface area and relatively low cost. The structural and capacitive optimization of anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays via electrolyte hydration over broad concentration ranges remains underexplored. This study systematically investigates the effect of water content (5 to 90 vol%) in a glycerol/NH4F electrolyte on the morphology and charge-storage performance of TiO2 synthesized at a constant potential of 20 V for 60 minutes. Morphological analysis reveals a strict hydration dependency for tubular growth; from ultra-low (5 vol%) and ultra-high (90 vol%) water concentrations which fail to produce nanotubes, yielding instead cracked surfaces with etching pits and non-porous passive films, respectively. Within the favorable formation window, increasing the water content from 25 to 70 vol% drives a continuous decrease in average tube diameter, from 62 nm to 43 nm at 25 and 70 vol%, respectively due to accelerated field-assisted chemical dissolution at lower electrolyte viscosities. Electrochemical characterization demonstrates that this morphological evolution directly dictates charge-storage capabilities. A maximum areal capacitance of 240 µF/cm² was achieved at 50 vol% water, significantly outperforming the 25 vol% (180 µF/cm²) and 70 vol% (150 µF/cm²) architectures due to an optimized balance of electrochemically active surface area and structural integrity. Conversely, the non-tubular architectures at 5 vol% and 90 vol% exhibit exceptionally poor capacitances of 30 and 20 µF/cm². These findings highlight the critical role of tuning electrolyte viscosity and dissolution kinetics to maximize the capacitive performance of titanium-based energy storage devices.},
keywords = {water content, tio2 nanotubes, supercapacitor, glycerol electrolyte, morphology, areal capacitance.},
month = {September},
}