Morphology dependent electrochemical performances of nickel hydroxide nanostructures

Electrochemical capacitors are the emergent technologies in the field of alternative energy sources. In the present work, nickel hydroxide nano-sheets and micro-flowers are synthesized by employing different chemical precursors. Structural and morphological investigations were conducted using XRD and FESEM measurements. Electrochemical performances as supercapacitor electrodes of the synthesized nanostructures are evaluated through cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements with three-electrode configurations. Results indicated the specific capacitance of 180 F g^-1 and 417 F g^-1 at 5 mV s^-1 for nickel hydroxide nanosheets and microflowers respectively. The large increment in the specific capacitance for nickel hydroxide microflowers maybe attributed to the higher specific surface area, morphology and porosity. The higher specific capacitances are also complimented with good cyclic retention for 2500 cycles. (author)