Electrochemical performance of nickel foam electrode in potassium hydroxide and sodium sulfate electrolytes for supercapacitor applications

Nickel foam is a shallow density metal part with very high electrical and thermal conductivity. On the other hand, porous metal materials are a good choice for work in energy storage devices as a current collector. Generally, nickel foam is used widely for this application due to its remarkable features. Based on previous researches, in material selection of the electrolyte used for energy storage devices, especially for the pilot situation, aqueous electrolyte types are a good choice due to their low cost and being accessible. In this study, investigations were performed to identify and confirm the accuracy of nickel foam, such as scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy diffraction spectroscopy for structural investigations. For studying electrochemical performance, the elec-trochemical interaction between 1 M potassium hydroxide (KOH) and 0.1 M sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), which were used as common electrolytes for energy storage application, with nickel foam as the working electrode was studied in 3 different routine studies such as CV (Cyclic Voltammetry), GCD (Galvanostatic Charge Discharge), and EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) analyses. According to the results, the desired electrolyte can be selected depending on the type of application.