Great improvement in pseudocapacitor properties of nickel hydroxide via simple gold deposition

In this letter, we report a facile approach to improve the capacitor properties of nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) by simply coating gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on the surface of Ni(OH)2. Au NP-deposited Ni(OH)2 (Au/Ni(OH)2) has been prepared by application of a conventional colloidal coating of Au NPs on the surface of 3D-Ni(OH)2 synthesized via a hydrothermal method. Compared with pristine Ni(OH)2, Au/Ni(OH)2 shows a 41% enhanced capacitance value, excellent rate capacitance behavior at high current density conditions, and greatly improved cycling stability for supercapacitor applications. The specific capacitance of Au/Ni(OH)2 reached 1927 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1), which is close to the theoretical capacitance and retained 66% and 80% of the maximum value at a high current density of 20 A g(-1) and 5000 cycles while that of pristine Ni(OH)2 was 1363 F g(-1) and significantly decreased to 48% and 30%, respectively, under the same conditions. The outstanding performance of Au/Ni(OH)2 as a supercapacitor is attributed to the presence of metal Au NPs on the surface of semiconductor Ni(OH)2; this permits the creation of virtual 3D conducting networks via metal/semiconductor contact, which induces fast electron and ion transport by acting as a bridge between Ni(OH)2 nanostructures, thus eventually leading to significantly improved electrochemical capacitive behaviors, as confirmed by the EIS and I-V characteristic data.