Mg-substituted α- and β-phase nickel hydroxides with high specific capacitance and good stability have been synthesized via sacrificial metal-based replacement reaction. 2D α- and β-phase nickel-magnesium hydroxide (NiMg-OH) have been synthesized by sacrificing magnesium (Mg) powder with nickel salt aqueous solutions. Interestingly, the phase of the obtained NiMg-OH can be controlled by adjusting the nickel precursor. As well, the Mg powder is used not only as Mg source but also alkali source to form NiMg-OH. The α-phase nickel-magnesium hydroxide sample (α-NiMg-OH) exhibits lager surface area of 290.88 m2 g-1. The electrochemical performances show that the α-NiMg-OH presented a superior specific capacitance of 2602 F g-1 (1 A g-1) and β-phase nickel-magnesium hydroxide sample (β-NiMg-OH) exhibits better stability with 87% retention after 1000 cycles at 10 A g-1. The hybrid supercapacitor composed of α-NiMg-OH and activated carbon (AC) display high storage performance and cycle stability, it presents 89.7 F g-1 (1 A g-1) and of 0-1.6 V potential window and it maintains capacitance retention of 84.6% subsequent to 4000 cycles.
Keywords: Ni-Mg hydroxides; energy storage; supercapacitor; α- and β-phases.