High performance of 3D silicon nanowires array@CrN for electrochemical capacitors.

Silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays were coated with chromium nitride (CrN) for use as supercapacitor electrodes. The CrN layer of different thicknesses was deposited onto SiNWs using bipolar magnetron sputtering method. The areal capacitance of the SiNWs-CrN, as measured in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte, was as high as 180 mF cm-2 at a scan rate of 5 mV s-1 (equivalent to 31.8 mF cm-2 at 1.6 mA cm-2) with an excellent electrochemical retention of 92% over 15 000 cycles. This work paves the way toward using CrN modified 3D SiNWs arrays for micro-supercapacitor application.