Low-cost, large-scale, one-pot synthesis of C/Ni3(NO3)2(OH)4 composites for high performance supercapacitor.

In this study, we report a series of carbon/nickel-based composites. The composites are prepared through a facile one-pot solution combustion method by using nickel nitrate hydrate (Ni(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O) as an oxidizer and glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) as a fuel material. The phase, component and electrochemical capacitive behavior of the as-prepared samples are investigated. The component of the obtained composites could be simply controlled by changing the ratio of NO 3 − /C 6 H 12 O 6 . Novel C/Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 composites are obtained at high molar ratio of NO 3 − /C 6 H 12 O 6 (larger than 9) for the first time. The as-prepared C/Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 composite shows battery-type behavior and exhibits a specific capacity of 630 C g −1 (1260 F g −1 ) at the current density of 1 A g −1 , which is ca. 2–10 fold higher than those of C/NiO composite (414 C g −1 , 828 F g −1 ) and C/NiO/Ni composite (65 C g −1 , 129 F g −1 ). In addition, C/Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 composite exhibits an excellent rate performance (448 C g −1 , 996 F g −1 at 10 A g −1 ) and good cyclic stability. The results indicate that the C/Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 composite is a potential electrode material for electrochemical supercapacitor. This work also suggests that the solution combustion process is promising for large-scale production of materials for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]