Electrochemical capacitors utilising transition metal oxides: An update of recent developments

Transition metal oxides receive considerable attention in the area of electrochemistry not only due to their beneficial reported structural, mechanical or electronic properties, but because of their capacitive properties ascribed to their multiple oxide states they exhibit pseudo capacitances which carbon counterparts generally cannot. Typically transition metal oxides may be classified as noble transition metal oxides which exhibit excellent capacitive properties but have the drawback of generally being relatively expensive. Alternatively base metal oxides may also be utilised which are considerably cheaper and more environment friendly than noble transition metals as well as exhibiting good capacitive properties. In considering that nanostructured materials can help ameliorate the electrochemical performances of transition metal oxides, this review summarizes the recent investigations of fundamental advances in understanding the electrochemical reactivity of transition metal oxides, thus leading to an improved capacitive performance, which is essential for their continual use in a plethora of supercapacitor applications. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.