In situ deposition of nickel nano particles on polyester fabric and its application as a flexible electrode in supercapacitor

In this research work, Nickel was in situ synthesized on polyester fabric using facile method. For this purpose, electroless plating method was used. In the first step, samples were sensitized using copper acetate. Hydrazine were used as reducing agent. In the same bath, Nickle acetate was added and in presence of hydrazine, the Nickle nano particles were deposited on the surface of polyester fibers. The morphological properties of nano particles on the surface were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The electrical resistance of samples after metal plating were measured by two-point probe. The rubbing and wash fastness of samples through electrical resistance were also studied. The results show that, Ni plated sample has very high resistance to rubbing. Even after 8000 cycles of rubbing using Martindale system, the electrical resistance of rubbed samples reaches to 40 Ω/sq. But it should be mentioned that, the wash fastness of prepared samples is not satisfactory. The main purpose of this research was, investigating on the storage properties of Ni plated polyester fabric. The electrochemical properties of samples were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charging–discharging (GCD) measurements (Autolab PGSTAT 302 N). The Ni plated polyester in this work, showed, a specific capacitance of 450 mF/cm ² by GCD test at the current density of 7.5 mA/cm ² . Also the integrated area for the CV curves related to rubbed samples, is large enough. The resultant Ni plated fabric provides a promising substrate to prepare textile-based electrodes for flexile supercapacitors.