CrN thin films prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering for symmetric supercapacitors

Supercapacitors have been becoming indispensable energy storage devices in micro-electromechanical systems and have been widely studied over the past few decades. Transition metal nitrides with excellent electrical conductivity and superior cycling stability are promising candidates as supercapacitor electrode materials. In this work, we report the fabrication of CrN thin films using reactive DC magnetron sputtering and further their applications for symmetric supercapacitors for the first time. The CrN thin film electrodes fabricated under the deposition pressure of 3.5 Pa show an areal specific capacitance of 12.8 mF cm-2 at 1.0 mA cm-2 and high cycling stability with 92.1% capacitance retention after 20 000 cycles in a 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte. Furthermore, our developed CrN//CrN symmetric supercapacitor can deliver a high energy density of 8.2 mW h cm-3 at the power density of 0.7 W cm-3 along with outstanding cycling stability. Thus, the CrN thin films have great potential for application in supercapacitors and other energy storage systems.