High Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes From Electrospun Nickel Oxide Nanowires

Baiju Vidhyadharan, Nurul Khayyriah Mohd Zain, Izan Izwan Misnon, Radhiyah Abd Aziz, Jamil Ismail, Mashitah M. Yusoff, Rajan Jose

Electrochemical energy storage in the pseudocapacitive mode is gaining attention due to its potential for producing high-performance supercapacitor electrodes devices at a cheaper cost. We analyse nickel oxide (NiO) nanowires created by electrospinning an aqueous polymeric solution comprising nickel precursor for use as a pseudocapacitors electrode in this study. The wires are 50–70 nm in diameter and include tightly packed cuboidal grains (10–20 nm) with a low degree of crystal flaws. The electrochemical properties of electrodes generated on nickel foam substrates are investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), charge-discharge cycling (CDC), and electrochemical resistivity spectroscopy (EIS). The best performing supercapacitor electrodes have a specific capacitance (CS) of 670 Fg1, strong cycling stability (100%) over 1000 cycles, and Coulombic efficiency of 98 per cent. On the other hand, there was a decrease in electrochemical equivalent resistance (0.76 Ω), charge transmission resistance (0.45Ω), and charge relaxation time (43 ms); this can be attributed to the defect-free nanowire shape that results in higher performance.

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