Self-assembled hierarchical β-cobalt hydroxide nanostructures on conductive textiles by one-step electrochemical deposition

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical cabbage-like β-cobalt hydroxide (β-Co(OH)₂) nanostructures were fabricated onto conducive textiles composed of copper-coated polyethylene terephthalate fibers by a simple one-step electrochemical deposition (ED) method. Under an external applied voltage of −0.75 V for 4 h, the hierarchical cabbage-like β-Co(OH)₂ nanostructures were well decorated on the conductive textiles. During the ED process, they were self-assembled by the tangled layers of nanoplate (thickness of ~45–55 nm) building blocks and exhibited a cabbage-shaped architecture. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared hierarchical cabbage-like β-Co(OH)₂ nanostructures were characterized. The growth mechanism of cabbage like β-Co(OH)₂ nanostructures was also investigated by varying the growth time. Moreover, the feasibility test for supercapacitors by measuring the electrochemical properties of the as-prepared nanostructures was performed by cyclic voltammetry and galvanic charge–discharge measurements. The obtained results show that the cabbage-like β-Co(OH)₂ nanostructures on the conductive textile substrate exhibited superior energy storage performance compared to the nanoplate morphology.