Porous NiCo2O4 nanostructures for high performance supercapacitors via a microemulsion technique

Abstract In this paper, porous Ni-substituted Co 3 O 4 (ternary NiCo 2 O 4 ) nanowires are synthesized via a simple microemulsion technique combined with a post thermal treatment. The as-prepared NiCo 2 O 4 exhibits porous one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure, which preserves the morphology of the precursor. Moreover, the NiCo 2 O 4 nanowires possess large surface area (53.6 m 2  g −1 ), pore volume (0.241 cm 3  g −1 ) and pore size (16.5 nm). The porous 1D nanostructures and large surface area have huge benefits for practical applications in supercapacitors. Due to the well-aligned 1D nanowire microstructure and a higher electrical conductivity, these ternary NiCo 2 O 4 electrodes possess high specific capacities of 1197 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 and capacitance retentions of 625 F g −1 at 8 A g −1 . After 2000 cycles, the NiCo 2 O 4 electrode can maintain 91.4% of its highest value, which demonstrates its superior cyclic stability performance. Also, the NiCo 2 O 4 electrode exhibits high capacity retention when fast charging. These results show that the porous NiCo 2 O 4 nanowires may be a promising electrode material for high performance electrochemical capacitors.

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