Towards unlocking high-performance of supercapacitors: From layered transition-metal hydroxide electrode to redox electrolyte

Both energy density and power density are crucial for a supercapacitor device, where the trade-off must be made between the two factors towards a practical application. Herein we focus on pseudocapacitance produced from the electrode and the electrolyte of supercapacitors to simultaneously achieve high energy density and power density. On the one hand, layered transition metal hydroxides (Ni(OH)(2) and Co(OH)(2)) are introduced as electrodes, followed with exploration of the effect of the active materials and the substrate on the electrochemical behavior. On the other hand, various redox electrolytes are utilized to improve the specific capacitance of an electrolyte. The roadmap is to select an appropriate electrode and a dedicated electrolyte in order to achieve high electrochemical performance of the supercapacitors.