Cadmium Hydroxide Nanowires for High Performance Supercapacitor by Chemical Bath Deposition
Abstract
Cadmium hydroxide [Cd(OH)2] has gained significant recognition as a promising material for supercapacitor electrodes due to its unique electrochemical characteristics. In this study, cost-effective chemical bath deposition (CBD) method was employed to synthesize Cd(OH)2 nanowires on stainless-steel substrate at room temperature for use as a supercapacitor electrode. Characterization of synthesized Cd(OH)2 nanowires was carried out using various techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD pattern confirmed pure phase formation of Cd(OH)2. On the other hand, SEM studies revealed the formation of uniform and interconnected Cd(OH)₂ nanowires with a remarkable specific surface area of 23.96 m2 g-1, which is advantageous for improving interactions between the electrode and the electrolyte. Besides this, the electrochemical performance of Cd(OH)2 electrode was tested using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques by three-electrode cell configuration with a 1 M NaOH aqueous electrolyte. The electrochemical analysis demonstrated that the Cd(OH)₂ nanowire thin film electrode exhibited an impressive specific capacitance of 356 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1. Furthermore, it displayed a long cycling life, with 74% retention of its initial capacitance after 5000 cycles measured at a scan rate of 100 mV s-1.