Influence of vanadium doping on the electrochemical performance of nickel oxide in supercapacitors

Abstract

In this study, V-doped NiO materials were prepared by simple coprecipitation and thermal decomposition, and the effect of the vanadium content on the morphology, structural properties, electrochemical behavior, and cycling stability of NiO upon oxidation and reduction was analyzed for supercapacitor applications. The results show an improvement in the capacitive characteristics of the V-doped NiO, including increases in the specific capacitance after the addition of just 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 at% V. All V_xNi_1−xO electrodes (x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.04) exhibited higher specific capacitances of 371.2, 365.7, and 386.2 F g⁻¹ than that of pure NiO (303.2 F g⁻¹) at a current density of 2 A g⁻¹ after 500 cycles, respectively. The V_0.01Ni_0.99O electrode showed good capacitance retention of 73.5% at a current density of 2 A g⁻¹ for more than 500 cycles in a cycling test. Importantly, the rate capability of the V_0.01Ni_0.99O electrode was maintained at about 84.7% as discharge current density was increased from 0.5 A g⁻¹ to 4 A g⁻¹.