Transition-metal compounds (TMCs) such as oxides, hydroxides,
and
sulfides are well-known pseudocapacitive materials whose capacitance
has been shown to improve by combining them with different carbon
nanostructures (CNSs). Here, we report a systematic investigation
on the influence of six different CNSs: single-walled carbon nanotubes
(SWCNTs), functionalized and multiwalled carbon nanotubes, graphene
oxide (GO), reduced GO (rGO), and graphene nanoplatelets on Ni(OH)2 nanostructures, focusing on their electrochemical properties
for potential use as electrode materials in supercapacitors. Uniformly
distributed Ni(OH)2 nanohexagons (approximately 30–35
nm in size) were found to be well attached to the surfaces of these
CNSs. Among the studied CNSs, rGO appeared to be the best as its composite
with Ni(OH)2 exhibited the highest specific capacitance
of 2306 F/g at 3 A/g along with 81.4% capacity retention after 5000
cycles. The SWCNT/Ni(OH)2 composite showed the second best
performance, with all other composites showing much lower performances.
The lower charge transfer resistance and higher ion diffusion coefficient
of the rGO/Ni(OH)2 composite, compared to those of all
other composites of Ni(OH)2, have been identified as the
reason for its improved performance. These results may find far-fetching
significance in designing TMC-nanostructure-based electrodes modified
with CNSs for supercapacitors.