Binder-free and Full Electrical-Addressing Free-standing Nanosheets with Carbon Nanotube Fabrics for Electrochemical Applications

As the old saying 'nothing is complete unless you put it in final shape', although nanosheets (NSs) are a promising functional building block for various electrochemical applications, their true value cannot be realized until they are well woven into electrical conducting materials. As an effort to determine their ideal shape, in this study, a unique manufacturing route to build a layer-by-layer (LBL) structure of two-dimensionally ordered, free-standing ${\beta}$-nickel hydroxide nanosheets (${\beta}$-NHNSs) that are fully electrically addressed with single-wall carbon nanotube fabrics was demonstrated, and its capabilities were verified through a comparative study on the differences between a simple bulky and LBL-structured electrochemical cathode, representing two extreme cases. The LBL-structured cathode showed a discharging current peak that was 25 times larger than the bulky structured one measured in cyclic voltammetry, which implies that the LBL structure is near an ideal electrode configuration for NS-based electrochemical applications.