Solvothermal synthesis of NiAl double hydroxide microspheres on a nickel foam-graphene as an electrode material for pseudo-capacitors

In this paper, we demonstrate excellent pseudo-capacitance behavior of nickel-aluminum double hydroxide microspheres (NiAl DHM) synthesized by a facile solvothermal technique using tertbutanol as a structure-directing agent on nickel foam-graphene (NF-G) current collector as compared to use of nickel foam current collector alone. The structure and surface morphology were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopies respectively. NF-G current collector was fabricated by chemical vapor deposition followed by an ex situ coating method of NiAl DHM active material which forms a composite electrode. The pseudocapacitive performance of the composite electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, constant charge–discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The composite electrode with the NF-G current collector exhibits an enhanced electrochemical performance due to the presence of the conductive graphene layer on the nickel foam and gives a specific capacitance of 1252 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 and a capacitive retention of about 97% after 1000 charge–discharge cycles. This shows that these composites are promising electrode materials for energy storage devices.