Electrochemical fabrication of Ni(OH)2/Ni 3D porous composite films as integrated capacitive electrodes

• Published in: RSC advances 2015, Vol.5 (17), p.12931-12936
• Main Authors: Jiang, Hong, Guo, Ying, Wang, Tao, Zhu, Peng-Li, Yu, Shuhui, Yu, Yan, Fu, Xian-Zhu, Sun, Rong, Wong, Ching-Ping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c4ra15092a

Ni(OH) 2 coated on Ni porous films are facilely fabricated by anode oxidation of 3D hierarchical porous Ni films which are prepared through a hydrogen bubble template electro-deposition method. The highly porous nickel films function as effective 3D conductive network current collectors and scaffolds to in situ form a thin layer of Ni(OH) 2 active material. The electrochemical capacitive performances are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the galvanostatic charge-discharge technique in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The 3D porous Ni(OH) 2 /Ni integrated electrodes demonstrate a much higher specific capacity of 828 mF cm −2 than 126 mF cm −2 for the smooth Ni(OH) 2 /Ni electrode at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 . The 3D porous Ni(OH) 2 /Ni integrated electrodes also display a good capacity retention of 95% after 1000 cycles. The superior capacitive properties of 3D porous Ni(OH) 2 /Ni electrodes might result from the thin layer Ni(OH) 2 active materials in situ formed on the highly 3D porous Ni metallic current collector with large surface area, low contact resistance between Ni(OH) 2 active material and Ni current collector, and fast electron/ion conduction. Ni(OH) 2 coated on Ni porous films are facilely fabricated by anode oxidation of 3D hierarchical porous Ni films which are prepared through a hydrogen bubble template electro-deposition method.