Boron-doped α-Ni(OH)2 nanoflowers with high specific surface area as electrochemical capacitor materials

The boron-doped alpha-Ni(OH)(2) nanoflowers (B-alpha-Ni(OH)(2)) with high specific surface area (400 m(2) g(-1)) were synthesized by the one pot liquid-phase method using P123 (EO20PO70EO20) as template and NaBH4 as alkali and boron sources. The size of the B-alpha-Ni(OH)(2) nanoflowers is about 300 nm and there are many porous. The 50 nm nanoplates are the basic structure units of nanoflowers and thickness of the nanosheets is approximately 5 nm. The content of B is about 15% among the Ni, B, O elements and boron exists mainly in the form of BO2-, which was confirmed by XPS characterization. B-alpha-Ni(OH)(2) nanoflowers exhibit a high specific capacitance of similar to 2296 F g(-1) at a charge and discharge current density of 3 A g(-1) with excellent cycling ability. The high specific capacitance and remarkable rate capability are promising for applications of B-alpha-Ni(OH)(2) nanostructures as advanced electrochemical capacitor materials with both high energy and cycling ability. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.