An electrodeposited graphite oxide/cobalt hydroxide/chitosan ternary composite on nickel foam as a cathode material for hybrid supercapacitors

Abstract

In this paper, we report the development of a graphite oxide (GO)/cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)₂)/chitosan composite to be used as a cathode material for hybrid supercapacitors. The novel GO/Co(OH)₂ binary composite was simply synthesized on nickel foam through a new chitosan-involved electrodeposition process. Physical characterization results indicate that the Co(OH)₂ nanoflakes were uniformly dispersed on the GO sheets with porous structures. The good morphological cooperation between the GO sheets and Co(OH)₂ nanoflakes not only facilitates the charge transport between the active materials and substrate but also benefits the fast diffusion of electrolyte ions into the nanostructured materials. Electrochemical characterization results show that the as-prepared GO/Co(OH)₂/chitosan composite has great energy storage performance with a high specific capacitance of 402 F g⁻¹ at 10 mV s⁻¹ at the mass loading of 2.6 mg cm⁻². These results demonstrate the significant potential of the as-prepared GO/Co(OH)₂/chitosan composite for low cost, mass production supercapacitors.