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Thin films of nickel-aluminum-containing layered double hydroxide (NiAl-LDH) have been prepared on nickel foil and nickel foam substrates by secondary (seeded) growth of NiAl-LDH seed layer. The preparation procedure consists of deposition of LDH seeds from a colloidal suspension on the substrate by dip coating, followed by hydrothermal treatment of the nanocrystals to form the LDH film. The secondary grown film is found to provide a higher crystallinity and more uniform composition of metal cations in the film layer than the in situ grown film on seed-free substrate under identical hydrothermal conditions. A systematic investigation of the film evolution process reveals that the crystallite growth rate is relatively fast for the secondary grown film because of the presence of LDH nanocrystal seeds. Electrochemical performance of the resulting NiAl-LDH films as positive electrode material was further assessed as an example of their practical applications. The secondary grown film electrode delivers improved recharge-discharge capacity and cycling stability compared with that of the in situ grown film, which can be explained by the existence of a unique microstructure of the former. Our findings show an example for the effective fabrication of LDH film with controllable microstructure and enhanced application performance through a secondary (seeded) growth procedure.

Development of a simple, reproducible and cost-effective protocol for mass production of non-precious-metal electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is still challenging but highly desirable for their practical applications in industry. Herein, we developed a facile and scalable method to directly produce graphene (G) supported CoFe-LDHs and successfully used them as a precursor for mass production of Co/CoO/CoFe2O4/G as a low-cost and Pt-free efficient electrocatalyst, which exhibits comparable electrocatalytic activity and much better durability for ORR in comparison with commercial Pt/C catalysts. The result may provide a way for cost-effective production of ORR electrocatalysts on a large scale for practical applications.

Films of laurate (La) anion-intercalated zinc-aluminum layered double hydroxides (ZnAl-La-LDHs) with hollow hemispherical protrusions on the surface of the hybrid film have been conveniently prepared by an ion-exchange reaction of a nitrate-containing LDH film previously grown in situ on a porous anodic alumina/aluminum (PAO/Al) substrate. No template is required to form the hemispherical protrusions, thus avoiding a complicated template removal process. The dimensions, morphology, and resistance to bursting of the hollow hemispherical protrusions can be easily tuned by varying the experimental conditions such as sodium laurate concentration, reaction time, and reaction temperature. The evolution of the hollow protrusions was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and a "bubble template-reconfiguration assembly" mechanism, in which air bubbles on the film surface act as a template, has been proposed to explain their formation. When the ion-exchange reaction was carried out on a film that had been treated by ultrasound to eliminate surface air bubbles, no hemispherical protrusions were formed, which is consistent with the proposed mechanism., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), also known as hydrotalcite-like anionic clays, have been investigated widely as promising electrochemical active materials. Due to the inherently weak conductivity, the electrochemical properties of LDHs were improved typically by utilization of either functional molecules intercalated between LDH interlayer galleries, or proteins confined between exfoliated LDH nanosheets. Here, we report a facile protocol to prepare NiAl-LDH/graphene (NiAl-LDH/G) nanocomposites using a conventional coprecipitation process under low-temperature conditions and subsequent reduction of the supporting graphene oxide. Electrochemical tests showed that the NiAl-LDH/G modified electrode exhibited highly enhanced electrochemical performance of dopamine electrooxidation in comparison with the pristine NiAl-LDH modified electrode. Results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectra provide convincing information on the nanostructure and composition underlying the enhancement. Our results of the NiAl-LDH/G modified electrodes with the enhanced electrochemical performance may allow designing a variety of promising hybrid sensors via a simple and feasible approach.

Designing hierarchical structures is of importance to enhance the electrochemical performance of electrode materials for energy storage devices such as supercapacitors. We herein report nanoneedle-decorated NiCo-layered double hydroxide (NiCo-LDH) microspheres used as electrode nanomaterials for pseudocapacitors. The nanoneedle-decorated NiCo-LDH microspheres are tuned by varying the amounts of an alkaline agent (NH4F) that is observed to increase the thickness and rigidness of nanoplatelets, as well as the coverage of nanoneedles. The nanoneedle-decorated NiCo-LDH microspheres, optimized by using 13 mmol NH4F, exhibit the largest specific surface area of 127.8 m2 g−1 and display the best electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance of 1644 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1, as well as a good specific capacitance retention of 93.8% after 1000 cycles at a high current density of 10 A g−1. The results may open up a possibility of producing controllable hierarchical LDH nanostructures as promising electrode nanomaterials for pseudocapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A NiS 2 nanodots/N,S-rGO composite is prepared via interlayer confinement, and delivers decent electrochemical performances for LIBs/SIBs, due to the improved charge transfer kinetics, capacitive-controlled contribution behavior, and structural stability. [Display omitted] Rational design of high-capacity nanosized composites as anode nanomaterials is crucial to boosting electrochemical performances towards large-scale application for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries (LIBs and SIBs). The small sizes and homogeneous dimensional size distributions are achieved typically by either the surface confinement on the underlying supports, or the encapsulation confinement within the precursors (such as metal-organic frameworks). Herein, we report the ultrasmall NiS 2 nanodots on reduced graphene oxide (NiS 2 /N,S-rGO) synthesized via interlayer confinement as anode nanomaterials for LIBs and SIBs. The composite is synthesized by pyrolyzing a host/guest precursor of sodium dodecyl sulfate ion/[NiEDTA]2− anions co-intercalated MgAl-layered double hydroxide LDH host, without additional sulfur source. The host/guest-derived interlayer nanoconfinement enables the composite to integrate the advantageous features: low-content active NiS 2 nanodots (11.0 wt%) with a mean size of 3.8 ± 0.5 nm, high-content N,S-rGO (89.0 wt%), as well as a large specific surface area and mesopore size distribution. The composite used as anode nanomaterial exhibits reversible capacities of 801.2 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1 for LIBs, and 207.7 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.1 A g−1 for SIBs, which are greatly higher than those of the pristine N,S-rGO without NiS 2 nanodots. The enhancement is experimentally supported by the low charge transfer resistance, high capacitive-controlled contribution, and good structural stability. Our guest/host-based interlayer nanoconfinement can promise an effective synthesis strategy for designing various nanosized anodes for electrochemical energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]