Nickel oxide coated on ultrasonically pretreated carbon nanotubes for supercapacitor

Nickel oxide/carbon nanotubes (NiO/CNTs) composite materials for supercapacitor are prepared by chemically depositing nickel hydroxide onto carbon nanotubes pretreated by ultrasonication and followed by thermal annealing at 300 A degrees C. A series of NiO/CNTs composites with different weight ratios of nickel oxide versus carbon nanotubes are synthesized via the same route. The high-resolution TEM and SEM results show that a lot of nicks, which favored the nucleation of the nickel hydroxide formed on the outer walls of carbon nanotubes due to ultrasonic cavitations, and then nickel oxide coated uniformly on the outer surface of the individual carbon nanotubes. The NiO/CNTs electrode presents a maximum specific capacitance of 523 F/g as well as a good cycle life during 1,000 cycles in 6 M KOH electrolyte. The good electrochemical characteristics of NiO/CNTs composite can be attributed to the three-dimensionally interconnected nanotubular structure with a thin film of electroactive materials.