Role of Nitrogen and Oxygen in Capacitance Formation of Carbon Nanowalls.

Supercapacitors based on carbon nanomaterials are attracting much attention because of their high capacitance enabled by large specific surface area. The introduction of heteroatoms such as N or O enhances the specific capacitance of these materials. However, the mechanisms that lead to the increase in the specific capacitance are not yet well-studied. In this Letter, we demonstrate an effective method for modification of the surface of carbon nanowalls (CNWs) using DC plasma in atmospheres of O2, N2, and their mixture. Processing in the plasma leads to the incorporation of ∼4 atom % nitrogen and ∼10 atom % oxygen atoms. Electrochemical measurements reveal that CNWs functionalized with oxygen groups are characterized by higher capacitance. The specific capacitance for samples with oxygen reaches 8.9 F cm-3 at a scan rate of 20 mV s-1. In contrast, the nitrogen-doped samples demonstrate a specific capacitance of 4.4 F cm-3 at the same scan rate. The mechanism of heteroatom incorporation into the carbon lattice is explained using density functional theory calculations.

Data on energy-band-gap characteristics of composite nanoparticles obtained by modification of the amorphous potassium polytitanate in aqueous solutions of transition metal salts.

Here we present the data on the energy-band-gap characteristics of composite nanoparticles produced by modification of the amorphous potassium polytitanate in aqueous solutions of different transition metal salts. Band gap characteristics are investigated using diffuse reflection spectra of the obtained powders. Calculated logarithmic derivative quantity of the Kubelka-Munk function reveals a presence of local maxima in the regions 0.5-1.5 eV and 1.6-3.0 eV which correspond to band gap values of the investigated materials. The values might be related to the constituents of the composite nanoparticles and intermediate products of their chemical interaction.

Potassium polytitanate gas-sensor study by impedance spectroscopy.

Nanocrystalline potassium polytitanates K2O·nTiO2·mH2O represent a new type of semiconducting compounds which are characterized by a high specific surface that makes them promising for use in gas sensors. In this work, we have studied potassium polytitanate mesoporous nanoparticle agglomerates placed over a SiO2/Si substrate equipped with multiple coplanar electrodes to measure the electrical response to various organic vapors, 1000 ppm of concentration, mixed with air by impedance spectrometry in range of the 10(-2)-10(6) Hz. The recorded impedance data for each sensor segment are associated with RC components of an equivalent circuit which are applied to selectively recognize the test vapors exploiting a "multisensor array" approach.

Data on electrical properties of nickel modified potassium polytitanates compacted powders.

Potassium polytitanates are new promising type of ferroelectric ceramic materials with high ionic conductivity, highly polarizable structure and extremely high permittivity. Its structure is formed by [TiO6] octahedral units to layers with mobile potassium and hydroxonium ions in-between. The treatment in solutions containing nickel ions allows forming heterostructured materials which consist of potassium polytitanate particles intercalated by Ni(2+) ions and/or decorated by nickel oxides NiO x . This modification route is fully dependant on solution pH, i.e. in acidic solutions the intercalation process prevails, in alkaline solutions potassium polytitanate is mostly decorated by the oxides. Therefore, electronic structure and electrical properties can be regulated depending on modification conditions, pH and ions concentration. Here we report the data on electric properties of potassium titanate modified in nickel sulfate solutions at different pH.