Anion Exchange of Ni-Co Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) Nanoarrays for a High-Capacitance Supercapacitor Electrode: A Comparison of Alkali Anion Exchange and Sulfuration.

A facile and new anion exchange process is presented, which involves the conversion of NiCo-CO3 layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheet arrays in an alkaline solution. The anion exchange between CO3 2- and OH- results in the construction of a reservoir for OH- anions, and the decoration of thin nanoflakes on the surface of nanosheets effectively enlarges the surface area of NiCo LDH nanoarrays. The capacitance of the as-soaked NiCo LDH nanoarrays electrode increases from 1.78 F cm-2 (684 F g-1 ) to 6.22 F cm-2 (2391 F g-1 ) at 2 mA cm-2 after soaking for 12 h. Moreover, the soaked NiCo-OH LDH electrode exhibits an enhanced rate capacity, high coulombic efficiency, and good cycling stability compared with the Ni-Co-S nanosheet electrode synthesized through a hydrothermal sulfuration process. The as-assembled all-solid-state NiCo LDH//active carbon asymmetric supercapacitor shows a maximum energy density of 83.4 W h kg-1 at a power density of 1066 W kg-1 .