The electrochemical performance of ordered mesoporous carbon/nickel compounds composite material for supercapacitor

A series of high performance ordered mesoporous carbon/nickel compounds composites have been synthesized by a combination of incipient wetness impregnation and hydrothermal method for the first time. X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to characterize the composites derived at the hydrothermal temperature of 125, 150, 175, 200, 250, 275 and 300 °C. The formation of nanosized nickel compounds, fully inside the mesopore system, was confirmed with XRD and TEM. An N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms measurements still revealed mesoporosity for the host/guest compounds. It is noteworthy that an OMC/nickel nitrate hydroxide hydrate composite (OMCN-150) exhibits more excellent performance. Based on the various hydrothermal temperatures of the composite, the capacitance of an OMCN-150 delivering the best electrochemical performance is about 2.4 (5 mV s−1) and 1.5 (50 mV s−1) times of the pristine OMC. The capacitance retention of an OMCN-150 is 96.1%, which indicates that the electrochemical performance of the supercapacitor is improved greatly, and represents novel research and significant advances in the field of electrode composite materials for supercapacitor.