A silica co-electrodeposition route to highly active Ni-based film electrodes

We report a novel silica co-electrodeposition route to prepare highly active nickel films. Firstly, Ni–SiO2 composite film was fabricated on a stainless steel substrate by electrodeposition, and then the SiO2 template was removed in alkaline electrolyte by consecutive cyclic voltammetry scans, leading to the formation of a porous Ni (po-Ni) matrix. The structure and morphology of the obtained films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The highly porous property of the po-Ni matrix is believed to be quite favourable for electrochemical applications. The electrochemical properties of the po-Ni film were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD) and steady-state polarization curves. The results showed that the porous Ni derived from the Ni–SiO2 composite film exhibits good electrochemical performance for potential use as a supercapacitor material and catalyst for water splitting.