Nano-engineered Diamond-based Materials for Supercapacitor Electrodes: A Review

Owing to the popularity of carbon-based supercapacitors, diamond has been examined as a potential candidate for such devices with unique advantages such as a wide electrochemical potential window and stable capacitive behavior in both aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes. Moreover, its chemical stability in harsh environments at extreme applied potentials and currents provides unique opportunities for designing new supercapacitors. Owing to the intrinsic low surface area of diamond, it is necessary to increase the electrochemically active surface area or to produce diamond-based composites, thereby ensuring capacitance improvement for the practical applications. According to previous literature reports, nano-engineered diamond structures can achieve a specific capacitance values as high as 10 mF cm(-2) with a specific energy of 10-100 Wh kg(-1) in aqueous electrolyte. The present manuscript reviews the recent advances in this topic of research by highlighting the potentials and challenges of diamond-based supercapacitors. Special attention is paid to the fabrication methods and electrochemical performance of particular material combinations in view of further application for supercapacitor construction.