Promotion of electrochemical performance by tailoring the surface of β-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets

Abstract

β-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets with rough surface were synthesized in the presence of glycerol through the hydrolysis of nickel acetate under hydrothermal condition. During the growth of β-Ni(OH)2, glycerol functionalized as a modifier to interfere the ordered stacking of Ni(OH)2 layers, leading to the rough surface of nanosheets. The resulted large surface area guaranteed the effective interface reactions occurring between electrolyte ions and β-Ni(OH)2. As a result, the as-prepared β-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets presented promoted electrochemical performance. The material had a maximum specific capacitance of 2100 F g−1 at current density of 1.3 A g−1, which was close to its theoretical value. At high current density of 26.3 A g−1, it remained high specific capacitance of 1281 F g−1. After 2000 charge and discharge cycles, the material still remained 93.8 % of its initial specific capacitance. These results demonstrated that the material could be a promising candidate for application in supercapacitor. β-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets (b) prepared in the presence of glycerol present a much rougher surface than those (a) prepared without using glycerol. As a result, the former sample has much higher electrochemical performance than the other sample due to its increased surface area.