Nickel hydroxide/activated carbon nanocomposite electrode material was successfully synthesized by a precipitation method. The activated carbon was prepared from isotropic pitch with chemical and electrochemical activation. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The capacitive properties were evaluated by cyclic voltammerty (CV), charge/discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 6M KOH aqueous electrolyte. The results showed that nano-sized nickel hydroxide was loaded on the surface of activated carbon. A specific capacitance of 277.8 Fg-1 was obtained at a constant current of 1 mAcm-2, indicating that the nickel hydroxide/activated carbon nanocomposite is a promising electrode material for supercapacitors.

Keywords: Supercapacitor, Activated carbon, Nickel hydroxide, Nanocomposite