Rational synthesis of NiCo2O4 meso-structures for high-rate supercapacitors

Mesoporous nanostructures are highly desirable for high-rate supercapacitors. In this work, we report a facile soft-templating sol–gel technique to synthesize NiCo2O4 with well-defined mesoporous architecture. The as-obtained products exhibit high specific surface area of 103 m2 g−1 and uniform mesopore-size distribution at 2.3 nm, offering numerous electroactive sites for charge storage and ordered diffusion channels for fast reaction kinetics. The unique NiCo2O4 nanostructure electrode exhibits high specific capacitance of 1179 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, outstanding rate capability (934 F g−1 at 40 A g−1) and good cycling stability with 90.6% retention after 4000 cycles. The excellent capacitive performance demonstrates that the meso-structured NiCo2O4 materials hold promising applications as an advanced electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.