Novel Fabrication of Carbon Spheres Decorated with Nickel Nanoparticles for Supercapacitors

Carbon spheres (CS) were synthesized by hydrothermal method using a 0.8M aqueous sucrose solution as the carbon source. The starting solution was heated in a stainless steel autoclave at 200$^{\circ }$C for 4h to produce carbon spheres with regular shapes having diameters in the range of 1-20$\mu $m. Ni-nanoparticles were deposited on the CS surfaces by an electro-less deposition technique. Our work is the first attempt to decorate CS with nickel nanoparticles using this method. The obtained Ni-CS was studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Ultra-Violet/Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis). CS decorated with Nickel nanoparticles increase their capacity to conduct a current making them useful in catalysts and in supercapacitors. Conductivity measurements on these Ni decorated CS and their use in supercapacitors will be presented.