Real time magnetic supercapacitor with antiferromagnetic nickel hydroxide based nanocomposite

Abstract

An antiferromagnetic, semiconducting nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH) <inf>2</inf> ), with a good theoretical capacitance is composited with reduced graphene oxide and polyaniline to synthesize the electrode material for energy storage in supercapacitors. The composite overcomes the limitation of low conductivity of nickel hydroxide. The conductivity and antiferromagnetic nature of nickel hydroxide are altered by applying magnetic field, which in turn enhances its energy storing capacity. A ternary composite with the weight percentages of 4%: 48%: 48% of reduced graphene oxide/nickel hydroxide/polyaniline (GN48P), respectively, exhibits a magnetic susceptibility of 850. The application of a magnetic field of 625 ?T results in an enhancement of performance of the composite, exhibiting a specific capacitance of 19.14 F g ?1 , specific capacity of 22.97 C g ?1 , energy density of 0.6649 W h kg ?1 , a power density of 17.57 W kg ?1 at a current density of 0.25 A g ?1 and retention of 85.19% of its original capacitance up to 5000 cycles. This premier study on the effect of magnetic field, on the electrochemical performance of the supercapacitor in a typical two electrode system showed 69.4% increase in its specific capacitance. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd