Electrodeposition and characterization of ordered mesoporous cobalt hydroxide films on different substrates for supercapacitors

Novel ordered mesoporous cobalt hydroxide films have been successfully electrodeposited on different substrates, i.e., foamed nickel mesh and titanium plate, from cobalt nitrate dissolved in the aqueous domains of the hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystalline phase of Brij 56. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies present that the as-deposited films have an interlaced nanosheet-like surface morphology and possess a regular nanostructure with hexagonal arrays of pores of nanometer dimension and extended periodicity. Various electrochemical test results show that the films on both substrates exhibit excellent electrochemical capacitive behavior due to the special ordered mesoporous nanostructure. Furthermore, it is obvious that the ordered mesoporous cobalt hydroxide film on foamed Ni mesh has much higher specific capacitance (maximum: 2646 F g−1) than that of the film on Ti plate (maximum: 1018 F g−1), which is mainly because that the foamed Ni mesh substrate with much larger surface area than Ti plate could enhance the utilization and the capacitance of Co(OH)2 film greatly.