Logo image
Back
Polymer templated nickel cobaltate for energy storage
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Polymer templated nickel cobaltate for energy storage

Shaymaa Albohani, Manickam Sundaram and Damian Laird
Renewable energy and environmental sustainability, Vol.2, p.9
2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/rees/2017002
pdf
Polymer templated nickel cobaltate for energy storage736.77 kBDownloadView
Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0,  Open Access
url
Polymer templated nickel cobaltate for energy storageView
Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Activated carbon Adsorption Alternative energy Batteries Bimetals Capacitance Egg shells Electrochemical analysis Electrochemistry Electrode materials Electrodes Electrolytes Energy resources Energy sources Energy storage Fourier transforms Lithium Metal oxides Morphology Nickel Polymers Polymethyl methacrylate Polymethylmethacrylate Pore size Renewable energy Storage batteries Supercapacitors Transition metal oxides
In order to take advantage of the increasing sophistication of technology for harnessing renewable energy resources, serious attention must be paid to how to store and re-access this energy. Electrochemical storage, in the guise of batteries, supercapacitors and pseudocapacitors, has attracted much attention as a viable option for enhanced energy storage applications. But in order for these technologies to be implemented successfully we need to find materials that perform better and are relatively easy to synthesise. Bimetallic transition metal oxides are materials that are readily synthesised and may be multifunctional, i.e. have a role at the electrochemical atomic level as well as the device level. In order for these materials to work efficiently in new generation systems based on sodium and lithium they also need to be mesoporous. This can be achieved by trying to find synthetic techniques that produce specific, highly regulated nanostructures or by adding a ‘templating’ agent during the bulk synthesis step. We have investigated the simple hydrothermal preparation of a number of nickel cobaltate (NiCo2O4) materials using polymer templates, eggshell membrane (ESM) and poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), as potential electrode materials for supercapacitors. The ESM was expected to act as a fibrous, random polymeric template while the PMMA should produce a much more ordered material. Electrochemical testing showed that the different templates have led to changes in material morphology and these have resulted in a difference in electrochemical properties. Templated materials increased specific capacitance compared to non-templated and the choice of template could influence the capacitance by as much as 30%.

Details

Metrics

19 File views/ downloads
57 Record Views
Logo image