Hydrothermal Synthesis of Binder-Free Metallic NiCo2O4 Nano-Needles Supported on Carbon Cloth as an Advanced Electrode for Supercapacitor Applications

It is of great significance to design electrochemical energy conversion and storage materials with excellent performance to fulfill the growing energy demand. Bimetallic cobalt/nickel-based electrode materials exhibit excellent electrical conductivity compared to mono oxides. However, their potential as electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors (SCs) is limited because of their poor cycling stability and high-capacity fading. This work demonstrates the synthesis of binder-free bimetallic NiCo2O4 nano-needles supported on CC (NCO@CC) via a facile and scalable hydrothermal process. Excellent electrical conductivity and interconnected nanostructure of NCO@CC nano-needles provide the fast transfer of electrons with numerous channels for ion diffusion. Owing to such features, the binder-free NCO@CC electrode for SC discloses excellent specific capacitance (1476 Fg(-1) at 1.5 Ag-1) with 94.25% capacitance retention even after 5000 cycles. From these outstanding electrochemical performances, it can be inferred that NCO@CC nano-needle array-structured electrodes may be potential candidates for SC applications.

Automated summary

Designing electrochemical energy conversion and storage materials with excellent performance is of great significance to meet the growing energy demand. This study demonstrates the synthesis of binder-free bimetallic NiCo2O4 nano-needles supported on CC (NCO@CC) through a facile and scalable hydrothermal process. The electrode exhibits excellent electrical conductivity and interconnected nanostructure, leading to outstanding electrochemical performances with high specific capacitance and capacitance retention even after a large number of cycles. The NCO@CC nano-needle array-structured electrode shows potential as a candidate for supercapacitor applications.