Synthesis of hybrid Ni-Co oxide @ 3D carbon skeleton derived from pollen grains for advanced supercapacitors

Great efforts have been made on the preparation and property enhancement of electrode materials for the supercapacitors, also known as electrochemical capacitors. In this work, we synthesize a novel composite, combining hybrid Ni-Co oxide and 3D carbon skeleton derived from rape pollen grains. In virtue of the synergistic effect between hybrid Ni-Co oxide and 3D carbon skeleton, the obtained composite exhibits good electrical conductive and stable microstructure for ions transport, providing the material with a high specific capacitance and excellent cyclic stability. At the current density of 1 Ag-1, the prepared composite shows a superior capacitance of 1625 Fg(-1), and as high as 1160 Fg(-1) at even 25 Ag-1. In addition, it should be mentioned that the capacitance retention of the composite was 90% after 5000 cycles at 20 Ag-1. The method presented in our research provides an easy and facile way to prepare a high performance composited material with well physical and chemical properties, which could be applied to advanced supercapacitors as well as other energy-storage systems. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.