Nanosheet-Based Hierarchical Ni2(CO3)(OH)2 Microspheres with Weak Crystallinity for High-Performance Supercapacitor

Three-dimensionally hierarchical oxide/hydroxide materials have recently attracted increasing interest by virtue of their exciting potential in electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Herein, hierarchical Ni2(CO3)(OH)2 microspheres assembled from ultrathin nanosheets were successfully synthesized by a one-pot/one-step hydrothermal route. In this method, common nickel salts and urea were selected as raw materials. The influence of urea concentration on the final product was studied. The hierarchical Ni2(CO3)(OH)2 microspheres show weak crystallinity and contain crystalline water. It was found that they exhibit excellent rate capacity when used as supercapacitor electrode. Under current density of 0.5 and 10 A/g, the optimized Ni2(CO3)(OH)2 electrode with loading density of 5.3 mg/cm(2) exhibited specific capacitances of 1178 and 613 F/g with excellent cycling stability. The excellent electrochemical property is possibly attributed to the intrinsic nature of Ni2(CO3)(OH)2, the ultrathin thickness of nanosheet units, and the sufficient space available to interact with the electrolyte. This facile synthesis strategy and the good electrochemical properties indicate that hydroxycarbonates are promising materials for supercapacitor application. This study suggests a large library of materials for potential application in energy storage systems.