Electrochemically synthesized cobalt redox active layered double hydroxides for supercapacitors development

This paper describes the electrosynthesis and characterization in alkaline solutions of two layered double hydroxides (LDHs) containing Co as divalent cation and Al or Fe as trivalent one on Pt supports. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments demonstrated a capacitive behaviour. LDHs containing Al3+ or Fe3+ displayed different responses, highlighting a key role of the trivalent metal. High specific capacitances calculated from charge-discharge experiments at a current density of 1 A g−1, were displayed by the two materials and resulted 854 and 869 F g−1 for the Al or Fe containing LDH, respectively. The long-term cycling capability was also investigated giving satisfactory results. The presence of Fe improves the performance of the LDH as pseudocapacitor, especially to achieve better performances in terms of energy and power densities. In view of the development of low cost supercapacitors preliminary tests aimed to deposit Co based LDHs on a large area graphite substrate were also successfully carried out.