NiCo<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@quinone-rich N–C core–shell nanowires as composite electrode for electric double layer capacitor

doi:10.1007/s11705-022-2223-6

Front. Chem. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (4) : 373-386 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-022-2223-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE

NiCo₂O₄@quinone-rich N–C core–shell nanowires as composite electrode for electric double layer capacitor

Yanli Fang¹, Hui Wang¹(

), Xuyun Wang¹, Jianwei Ren², Rongfang Wang¹

¹. State Key Laboratory Base for Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
². Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa

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Abstract

The bind-free carbon cloth-supported electrodes hold the promises for high-performance electrochemical capacitors with high specific capacitance and good cyclic stability. Considering the close connection between their performance and the amount of carbon material loaded on the electrodes, in this work, NiCo₂O₄ nanowires were firstly grown on the substrate of active carbon cloth to provide the necessary surface area in the longitudinal direction. Then, the quinone-rich nitrogen-doped carbon shell structure was formed around NiCo₂O₄ nanowires, and the obtained composite was used as electrode for electric double layer capacitor. The results showed that the composite electrode displayed an area-specific capacitance of 1794 mF∙cm^–2 at the current density of 1 mA∙cm^–2. The assembled symmetric electric double layer capacitor achieved a high energy density of 6.55 mW∙h∙cm^–3 at a power density of 180 mW∙cm^–3. The assembled symmetric capacitor exhibited a capacitance retention of 88.96% after 10000 charge/discharge cycles at the current density of 20 mA∙cm^–2. These results indicated the potentials in the preparation of the carbon electrode materials with high energy density and good cycling stability.

Keywords carbon cloth NiCo₂O₄ nanowires core−shell structure quinone-rich electric double layer capacitor

Corresponding Author(s): Hui Wang

Online First Date: 17 January 2023 Issue Date: 24 March 2023

Cite this article:

Yanli Fang,Hui Wang,Xuyun Wang, et al. NiCo₂O₄@quinone-rich N–C core–shell nanowires as composite electrode for electric double layer capacitor[J]. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(4): 373-386.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/10.1007/s11705-022-2223-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fcse/EN/Y2023/V17/I4/373

Tab.1 Different hierarchical core?shell structures

Fig.1 Preparation procedure of QNC-MNW@ACC sample.

Fig.2 SEM images of: (a-1–a-3) ACC, (b-1–b-5) MNW@ACC, (c-1–c-4) NC-MNW@ACC and (d-1–d-4) QNC-MNW@ACC samples.

Fig.3 (a) Raman patterns, (b) ID/IG values, and (c) fitted Raman patterns of ACC, MNW@ACC, NC-MNW@ACC and QNC-MNW@ACC samples.

Tab.2 The content of OCFG in NC-MNW@ACC, QNC-ACC and QNC-MNW@ACC based on the fitted peak areas of O 1s XPS Sample

Fig.4 XPS spectra of four samples: (a) survey spectrum, (b) elemental contents, (c) C 1s, (d) N 1s, (e) O 1s, (f) Co 2p and (g) Ni 2p.

Fig.5 Ar-etching XPS spectra of the NC-MNW@ACC and QNC-MNW@ACC samples: (a) elemental contents, (b) the content of OCFG, (c) C 1s, (d) N 1s, (e) Co 2p and (f) Ni 2p.

Tab.3 The conductivity and contact angle of the prepared sample

Fig.6 (a) The CV curves at 5 mV?s^–1 and (b) GCD curves at 1 mA?cm^–2 for PDA(0.5)-8 min, PDA(1)-8 min, PDA(2)-8 min; (c) the CV curves at 5 mV?s^–1 and (d) GCD curves at 1 mA?cm^–2 for PDA(1)-6 min, PDA(1)-8 min, PDA(1)-10 min.

Fig.7 (a) CV curves of QNC-MNW@ACC sample scanned at 5?50 mV?s^–1, (b) the capacitance contributions of EDLC and pseudocapacitance within QNC-MNW@ACC sample at different scan rates, (c) CV curves of different samples at the scan rate of 5 mV?s^–1, and (d) Integral areas of CV curves of different samples.

Fig.8 (a–f) Fitting graph of double-layer capacitance contribution of QNC-MNW@ACC at scan rates of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mV?s^–1.

Fig.9 (a) GCD curves at current density of 1 mA?cm^–2, (b) Areal specific capacitance at different current densities, (c) EIS of the assembled symmetric capacitors, and (d) R_S and R_CT values of the four ACC, NC-MNW@ACC, QNC-ACC and QNC-MNW@ACC samples.

Fig.10 Performance evaluation of the QNC-MNW@ACC-assembled symmetrical capacitor: (a) CV curves measured at different operating voltages at 100 mV?s^–1, (b) GCD curves recorded over different current densities, (c) capacities vs. current densities, (d) Ragone plots of the QNC-MNW@ACC sample in comparison with the recently reported systems, (e) EIS curves, (f) long-term stability at 15 mA?cm^–2, (g) SEM image of the QNC-MNW@ACC sample after long-term test, and (h) the assembled QNC-MNW@ACC-battery cell is able to power a 2.0 V LED light for over 20 min.

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