Electrospun porous NiCo2O4 nanotubes as advanced electrodes for electrochemical capacitors

Abstract

Novel, porous NiCo2O4 nanotubes (NCO-NTs) are prepared by a single-spinneret electrospinning technique followed by calcination in air. The obtained NCO-NTs display a one-dimensional architecture with a porous structure and hollow interiors. The effect of precursor concentration on the morphologies of the products is investigated. Due to their unique structure, the prepared NCO-NT electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance (1647 F g−1 at 1 A g−1), excellent rate capability (77.3 % capacity retention at 25 A g−1), and outstanding cycling stability (6.4 % loss after 3000 cycles), which indicates it has great potential for high-performance electrochemical capacitors. The desirable enhanced capacitive performance of NCO-NTs can be attributed to the relatively large specific surface area of these porous and hollow one-dimensional nanostructures.