Graphene-based carbon nano-fibers grown on thin-sheet sinter-locked Ni-fiber as self-supported electrodes for supercapacitors

A promising thin-sheet graphene-based carbon/Ni-fiber hybrid structure has been developed by the catalytic chemical vapor deposition of ethanol on a sinter-locked 3-dimensional network consisting of 5 vol.% 8-μm-nickel fibers. It is revealed that the graphene nano-sheets consisting of tens of graphene single-layers are stacked in one line to form mesopore-rich carbon nano-fibers (CNFs). One of the most promising is its use as electrodes in electrochemical devices. When employed in an electrochemical capacitor, this hybrid shows excellent capacitive behavior and delivers pleasing specific capacitance at high current density (e.g., 87-100 F/g @ 100-500 mA/g).