The present study demonstrates a novel, low temperature synthetic approach by which 3-D bouquets of nickel hydroxide nitrate were processed into high surface area electrodes for supercapacitor applications. The synthesized micro-bouquets comprised randomly arrayed microporous nanoflakes (pore size: 2-6 nm) and exhibited a surface area of 150 m 2 g À1 . Morphological evolution studies were performed to elucidate how surface morphology of these electrode materials affect redox reactions and their ultimate performance as a supercapacitor. The electrodes were tested in three different electrolytes, namely lithium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. From the detailed electrochemical analysis, an intrinsic correlation between the capacitance, internal resistance and the surface morphology was deduced and explained on the basis of relative contributions from the faradaic properties in different electrolytes. Depending on the surface morphology and electrolyte incorporated, these nano/micro-hybrid electrodes exhibited specific mass capacitance value of as high as 1380 AE 38 F g À1 . Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy was used to determine the electrode dissolution in the given electrolyte and the findings were co-related with the cycling stability. By employing this low cost electrode design, high stability (>5000 cycles with no fading) was achieved in lithium hydroxide electrolyte. Furthermore, a working model supercapacitor in a coin cell form is also shown to exhibit peak power and energy density of 3 kW kg À1 and 800 mW h kg À1 , respectively.

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Three types of black anodic coatings, namely, black dyeing (BD), inorganic colouring (IC), and electrolytic colouring (EC) were prepared by conventional type II sulphuric acid anodizing on Al6061 alloys. Electrochemical behaviour of these coatings was studied by exposure to 3.5% wt sodium chloride solution for prolonged immersion periods up to 360 hours. The porous layer characteristics of all sealed, fresh and autosealed coatings were investigated by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). An equivalent circuit that reproduces the a.c. impedance results of porous aluminium oxide films is proposed. The breakpoint frequency and damage function analysis were carried out to analyse the coating's electrochemical behaviour. Corrosion morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that BD and IC behaved in a very similar manner to sulphuric acid anodising (SAA). However EC was behaving in an entirely different manner. Among all colouring methods BD was showing very less values. All these findings were further confirmed by linear polarisation studies. No major evidence of localised corrosion or pitting of the black anodic coatings was observed in SEM micrographs.

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