Derivation of both EDLC and pseudocapacitance characteristics based on synergistic mixture of NiCo2O4 and hollow carbon nanofiber: An efficient electrode towards high energy density supercapacitor

Abstract

In this study we fabricated a hollow carbon nanofiber (CNF) via a facile dual nozzle electrospinning process and directly used as low-cost and environmental friendly carbon source material, which were incorporated to NiCo2O4 (NCO). We designed a hybrid nanocomposite based on synergistic mixture of hollow structure CNF and spinel NCO, with 3D dandelion like morphology, hierarchical mesoporous surface, high specific surface area, and directly grown onto the surface of nickel foam substrate. We modified the structural properties of hybrid NCO–CNF nanocomposite in aim to improve its overall electrochemical performance towards supercapacitor application. In here, we fabricated our hollow CNF using dual concentric nozzle electrospinning method, comprising of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as soluble core and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as shell. It was essential in our study to fully leach out the PVP to obtain a hollow structure: this hollow structure of CNF provided a conductive network that guaranteed the high speed movement of electron/electrolyte. Furthermore, the overall specific capacitance and energy density of the hybrid NCO–CNF electrode were remarkably boost up due to the derivation of both electric double layer capacitance and pseudocapacitance characteristics based on the synergistic mixture of graphitic carbon and transition metal oxides. The fabricated binder-free hybrid NCO–CNF electrode displayed efficient charge transfer and achieved outstanding specific capacitance and energy density as high as 1188.19 F g−1 and 37.23 W h kg−1, respectively, even at high current density of 50 A g−1.