Fabrication of nickel hydroxide microtubes with micro- and nano-scale composite structure and improving electrochemical performance

The beta-Ni(OH)(2) microtubes with hierarchical structure wall composed of interweaved nanolamella were successfully fabricated by the template-free wet-chemical approach. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report on Ni(OH)(2) microtubes with the micro- and nanoscale composite structure. This method is very facile and effective to prepare the tubular materials with high yield and uniform tube diameter. The intermediate product and final composite structures were well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform IR (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the formation mechanism was deeply studied. In comparison with beta-Ni(OH)(2) microrod and particle electrodes, beta-Ni(OH)(2) microtube electrode has the highest discharge capacity in alkaline battery, indicating the potential applications of the microtubes with the hierarchical structures in alkaline Ni-based batteries, supercapacitor, and catalytic areas.