Surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of large surface area nickel nanoparticles for electrochemical applications

Abstract

A large surface area is an imperative parameter for electrocatalytic materials applied in electrochemical devices. In the present work, Ni nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrothermal method using three surfactants: sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and two base media, i.e., sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH). We investigated the effects of different surfactants and base mediums on Ni nanoparticles' crystallite size, particle size, and surface area. Experimental results revealed that Ni nanoparticles with smaller particle sizes (50–90 nm) and large surface area (28.4–64 m2/g) were obtained when NaOH was used as the base medium with all surfactants. Further, a high specific capacitance of 417 F/g, minimum charge transfer resistance of 490 Ω, and 91 % capacitance retention demonstrated that Ni nanoparticles obtained using PVP in NaOH could be applied as potential working electrode material in enhancing the performance of supercapacitor devices.