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Facile preparation of α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanosheet composite as a cathode material for alkaline secondary batteries

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Abstract

α-Ni(OH)2 has attracted great attention as a cathode material for alkaline secondary batteries (ASBs) because of its high theoretical capacity and small volume change during charge/discharge cycles. However, poor cycling stability and low electronic conductivity of α-Ni(OH)2 severely hinder its development and practical applications in ASBs. In this work, α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanosheet composite was successfully fabricated by a facile homogeneous precipitation method. The nanocomposite is composed of α-Ni(OH)2 nanoflowers decorated homogeneously on the surfaces of graphene nanosheets. When evaluated as cathode material for ASBs, this α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanocomposite exhibits much enhanced high-rate capability and cycling stability compared to the pure α-Ni(OH)2 due to the improved electrochemical reaction kinetic, enhanced electronic conductivity, and hierarchical nanostructure. For example, the α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanocomposite presents a rate retention of 74.8% as the current density increasing from 250 to 5000 mA g−1, much higher than that (49.0%) of pure α-Ni(OH)2; moreover, at a current density of 2000 mA g−1, the α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanocomposite still maintains a reversible capacity of 177 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles, which is four times higher than that (41 mA h g−1) of the pure α-Ni(OH)2. The attractive electrochemical performances and facile synthesis route made the prepared α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanocomposite become a promising electrode material for ASBs.

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Funding

Financial supports were from the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation of China (2017GXNSFAA198117 and 2015GXNSFGA139006), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51664012 and 51562006), and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magnetochemical Functional Materials (EMFM20181102 and EMFM20181117).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magneto-chemical Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Yanwei Li, Renshu Huang, Jingcheng Ji, Jinhuan Yao & Jiqiong Jiang

  2. Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Materials and New Processing Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, People’s Republic of China

    Yanwei Li & Zhengguang Zou

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  1. Yanwei Li
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Correspondence to Yanwei Li, Jinhuan Yao or Zhengguang Zou.

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Li, Y., Huang, R., Ji, J. et al. Facile preparation of α-Ni(OH)2/graphene nanosheet composite as a cathode material for alkaline secondary batteries. Ionics 25, 4787–4794 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-019-03053-x

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