Effect of oxidant on the structural, morphological and supercapacitive properties of nickel hydroxide nanoflakes electrode films

Abstract

Nanostructured nickel hydroxide Ni(OH)(2) electrode films were synthesized using a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at 80 degrees C. The effect of an oxidizing agent potassium persulfate (K2S2O8) on the structural, morphological and supercapacitive properties of the Ni(OH)(2) electrode has been investigated. The structural and morphological studies revealed that randomly oriented Ni(OH)(2) nanoflakes are converted into vertitally aligned dense Ni(OH)(2)center dot NiOOH nanoflakes after the addition of the K2S2O8 oxidant. The specific capacitance of the Ni(OH)(2)center dot NiOOH electrode is found to be similar to 1257 F/g which is significantly larger than that of the Ni(OH)(2) electrode (similar to 454 F/g). The oxidant-mediated Ni(OH)(2)center dot NiOOH electrode shows an improved capacitive retention. The significantly improved supercapacitor properties of the Ni (OH)(2). NiOOH electrode are due to a combined effect of increased active area and enhanced electrical conductivity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.