LAUSR

Abstract Transport of electrolyte ions in electrode material is considered to be an essential influence on the charging-discharging process, which affects the overall performance of the energy storage device. In this work, poly (allylamine hydrochloride) is introduced into the surface of vanadium nitride/carbon electrode by electrostatic self-assembly to improve the wettability of the materials. After adsorbing polyelectrolyte, the electrode nanomaterials of vanadium nitride disperse well in water, implying optimized wetting behavior of vanadium nitride electrode in aqueous electrolyte. In this case, electrolyte ions could transport efficiently in the bulk of electrode material of vanadium nitride. The fabricated electrolyte-philic electrode nanomaterials yield specific capacitance of 96.4 F/g at the current density of 0.5 A/g while the poly (allylamine hydrochloride)-free control materials only 62.1 F/g. This work provides an idea for improving wettability of electrode materials, for example, the anode electrode material of vanadium nitride, to favor more efficient electrolyte ions diffusion and charge transfer for energy storage and conversion.