Effect of Nickel deposition on ECSA and electrocatalytic properties of vertically aligned few layers graphene sheets

Vertically aligned graphene (VG) nanosheets are highly desirable for wide range of applications including energy storage due to their excellent properties like unstackable morphology, orientation, and high specific surface area. In the present manuscript, we have fabricated electrodes of novel hybrid nanostructure consisting of FLGs at the bottom and Carbon Nano walls on top (CNW-FLG) for energy applications. Nickel deposited hybrid carbon nano structure (Sample1, Ni-CNW-FLG) was synthesized using an electrochemical deposition method, and its structural, morphological, and electrochemical properties were systematically investigated. Ni-CNW-FLG hybrid carbon nano structure demonstrated a significant increase in Electrochemical active surface area (ECSA), enhanced OER activity, and improved cycling performance compared to undeposited CNW-FLG (sample3). This study highlights the importance of nickel deposition in optimizing the electrocatalytic characteristics of carbon-based nanostructures for energy applications.