Enhanced electrochemical properties of nickel-cobalt hydroxide nanosheet by high-gravity liquid phase modification

Abstract

Nickel-cobalt layered double hydroxide (Ni-Co LDH) nanosheet has a low specific capacity and poor rate capability. This study uses an anionic surfactant to modify Ni-Co LDH by the high-gravity liquid-phase method. The results reveal that the sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) adsorption and intercalation can increase electrode interface area, enlarge interlayer spacing of Ni-Co LDH, accelerate the diffusion of electrolyte ions, and thus improve its specific capacity and rate capability. Compared with the stirred flow field, the high gravity further intensifies the surface adsorption and substitution intercalation of SDBS, resulting in a bigger interface area and interlayer spacing of Ni-Co LDH, which is more favorable to its specific capacity and rate capability. The specific capacity of Ni-Co LDH after high-gravity modification is 984 C g−1 (2187 F g−1, 2 A g−1), and its capacity retention rate reached 80 % (1–30 A g−1), significantly higher than that of the untreated one. Besides, an electrochemical kinetic study shows that a high gravity modification substantially enhances the ion diffusion rate. The modified materials under a high gravity field are utilized as anode materials and activated carbons (ACs) as cathode materials to construct supercapacitors. The Ni-Co LDHs//AC has a 50 Wh kg−1 energy density with well cycling stability. The paper proposes a high-gravity liquid-phase modification method to explore potential high-performance electrode materials.