Hierarchical Ni(OH)/Cu(OH) interwoven nanosheets grown on Ni-Cu-P alloy plated cotton fabric for flexible high-performance energy storage.

Flexible energy storage electrodes with high conductivity and capacity are crucial for wearable electronic clothes. Herein, a flexible hierarchical Ni(OH)/Cu(OH) interwoven nanosheets coated on Ni-Cu-P alloy plated cotton fabric textile (NCO/CF), which displays perfect conductive and electrochemical performance, is prepared by electroless deposition and electrochemical oxidation method. While the Ni-Cu-P alloy layer coated on the fabric effectively contributes to excellent mechanical performance and electro-conductivity of the as-prepared NCO/CF electrode, the hierarchical Ni(OH)/Cu(OH) interwoven nanosheets in the oxidation layer effectively lead to a high energy storage performance with a specific areal capacity of 4.7 C cm at a current density of 2 mA cm. When the power density of the two-electrode system based on NCO/CF and the carbon cloth (CC) is 2.4 mW cm, the energy density is 1.38 mW h cm. Furthermore, the flexible solid-state energy storage f-NCO/CF//CC is assembled in a self-powered system and supplies continuous power for electronic devices, demonstrating that NCO/CF is promising to be applied in various energy storage devices to power portable and wearable devices in the future.