In situ growth of NiCo-LDH on water hyacinth-derived carbon frameworks for sustainable high-performance supercapacitors

Biomass of water hyacinth (WH) is a promising carbon precursor. • The synergistic effect of NiCo-LDH and WH carbon was used for energy storage. • Oxygen vacancies significantly improved the electrode’s energy storage capability. Water hyacinth , an aquatic plant prone to overgrowth, typically thrives in stagnant marshes, lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. It can disrupt aquatic ecosystems and clog waterways, increasing governance costs. This study developed an in situ growth method to grow NiCo-LDH on water hyacinth -derived carbon frameworks for sustainable, high-performance supercapacitors. Specifically, NiCo-LDH nanosheets were first grown in situ on activated water hyacinth -derived hierarchical porous carbon (AWHC), followed by NaBH 4 treatment to introduce oxygen vacancies, thereby achieving synergistic optimization. The optimal ov-NiCo-LDH@AWHC electrode, with a NiCo-LDH:AWHC mass ratio of 6:2, exhibited a specific capacitance of 3032 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 and an 82.05% retention after 10,000 galvanostatic discharge-charge (GCD) cycles at 10 A g −1 . Intriguingly, the asymmetric supercapacitor, ov-NiCo-LDH@AWHC-2//AWHC, delivered 74.97 Wh kg −1 at 734.7 W kg −1 , with 84.77% capacitance retention over 10,000 GCD cycles at 3 A g −1 . Download: Download high-res image (198KB) Download: Download full-size image