Staggered nickel–vanadium layered double hydroxide nanosheets on reduced graphene oxide via in-situ growth for enhanced supercapacitor performance

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are of great potential electrode materials for supercapacitors, but the irreversible face-to-face stacking and intrinsic insulation nature of LDHs materials also hinder their electrochemical performances. In this study, nickel–vanadium LDH (NiV-LDH) nanosheets were perpendicularly staggered on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) via in-situ growth to fabricate a composite material (Ni4V1[email protected]25 %) with a conductive skeleton and ion transport channels for enhancing the electrochemical performances of supercapacitor. As a result, the capacitance of the N4V1[email protected]25 % was 1511.1 F/g under a current density of 1 A/g, which was higher than those of Ni4V1-LDH (1041.1 F/g) and rGO (231.6 F/g). The Ni4V1[email protected]25 % retained 85.3 % of its initial capacitance after 1000 cycles at a high current density of 10 A/g. The excellent volumetric performance of the Ni4V1[email protected]25 % was attributed to its excellent specific surface area and voidage, as well as its enhanced ion and electron transport capabilities. As the growth substrate for Ni4V1-LDH, rGO could not only improve the conductivity of the composite material but also could enable charge transfer between the LDH and graphene, reduce the redox barrier in the charge and discharge process of the Ni4V1[email protected]25 % under the action of a charge field, and improve the capacitor performance.