In situ growth of Ni(OH)2 nanoflakes on Ni foam as binder-free electrode for electrochemical pseudocapacitor

Abstract

Abstract In this work, a facile one-step hydrothermal method has been adopted to prepare Ni(OH) 2 directly deposited on Ni foam in ultrapure water. The phase structure and morphology composition of the in-situ grown Ni(OH) 2 /Ni foam (NF) were analyzed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscope with energy disperse spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The results indicate that Ni(OH) 2 nanoflakes uniformly in-situ grown on Ni foam construct a hierarchical structure, which in favour of full infiltration with electrolyte, and also beneficial to the reliable stability of the Ni(OH) 2 /NF electrode. While being employed as an integrated binder-free electrode for electrochemical pseudocapacitor, the Ni(OH) 2 /NF shows a high specific capacitance of 1470.8 F/g at 2.5 A/g in 2 M KOH. This work demonstrates a highly-simple and cost-effect approach for designing binder-free electrodes for high-performance electrochemical pseudocapacitor.