Pacifist Philosophy in Response to the Idea of War Essay Example for Free

Pacifist Philosophy in Response to the Idea of War Essay There are a variety of different philosophical interpretations of the idea of war, even what it means to be at war. Engaging in war is generally described as being the resort to violence in order to attain political ends. War is described by some as being a tyrannical crime, in that power hungry individuals lose sight of their morals and resort to unethical violence committed against others (Walzer, 2006). From this perspective, one notes the assertion that there is never a good reason to engage in such brutal behavior as to harm another individual. However, there are supposed potential weaknesses in this theory, due to the fact that nonviolence at all costs can be viewed as a complete lack of self defense (White, 2008). In any regard, the pacifist philosophy holds that there is never a good reason to engage in combat with other people, that true solutions are found solely through peaceful means. In light of the pacifist ideology, the idea of war has no place, even in the face impending and actual violence, and the best route in the face of danger is to resist participating in the cruelty. It is not always easy to attempt to manage a violent situation in peaceful ways, non-harmful ways, yet there are a myriad of creative ways to address the problem of violent people, ways which do not support aggressive thoughts and actions. In order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the pacifist position, it is essential to engage in comprehensive research and thought about the meaning of peace at all costs. Pacifism The principle ideas which serve as the conceptual framework of the pacifist movement center on the assertion that war is dictatorial cruelty derived from evil thoughts and actions and that peaceful behaviors are the only way in which to effectively diffuse this brutality. Practical pacifism affirms that resorting to violence is not the answer to the problem of violence in the world, that violence should be absolutely avoided and peaceful means of solution oriented action should be taken (Fiala, 2004). In other words, there is the example of the country who supports the death penalty as a means of supposed just punishment for people accused of the crime of murder. From a pacifist perspective, the idea of using violence as a means to eradicate violence is simply unreasonable and points to an illogical frame of thought and action. The pacifist would be likely to condone a means of arrest and rehabilitation rather than arrest and kill. The idea of peaceful interventions is paramount and supercedes all options deemed to be harmful to people. On a more personal level, one can take the interaction between and husband and wife or mother and child. When a person becomes angry enough to yell or hit, then the answer is not to yell or hit back in response, but rather to be calm and communicate with the other person in figuring out a solution. This kind of civilized action and communication can go a long way in ensuring that the violence does not continue, and this kind of civilized communication and action is able to be successfully translated to the public and political sphere as well. Strengths There are many strengths of the pacifist movement, in that the people who support peace at all costs are able to devise a great many solutions to violence which are centered on ensuring the absolute safety and wellbeing of all people. It is important to consider the ideas generated by pacifists, as they directly speak to the absolute moral concept of non-harm. Jesus Christ himself is quoted as saying, â€Å"You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you, ‘Do not resist one who is evil; but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also’†, described as one of the most revolutionary sermons he ever gave (Ellens, 2007). This powerful commentary demands that people utilize the supremacy of restraint when faced with violence, even at a time, like today, when major religions condone the use of brutality. There is not one major religion in the world which absolutely forbids the use of violence, to the detriment of all people in the world. There is not one country which expressly forbids the act of war and supports the command for love, the command to offer one’s cheek to one’s aggressor. With all of the available options for peace, including communication, protest, boycotting, arrest, and rehabilitation, there is a known and certain positive effect which can be produced through the use of more gentle modes of action than violence. The media today is full of popular artists who tout violence as a masculine or commanding way of settling a score. However, when a person resorts to violence in an attempt to eradicate violence, the end result is simply another person who is drawn into the problem itself. The only way to end the violence in the world is by commitment to faith in the inherent goodness of humanity, to staunchly support the idea that solutions can be found which do not cause harm to other people. Criminality is basically defined as causing harm, and it makes no sense to become a criminal in the desire to ensure justice. Weaknesses There are those people who claim that there are weaknesses in the pacifist philosophy, that absolute peace defies the need to defend oneself from harm. People who do not support absolute pacifism claim that one of the only ways to address the problem of rogue states is to resort to war (Jacobson, 2007). Engaging in the violence of war is supposedly justified as an unfortunate effect of having no other option but to defend oneself and one’s country from the violent actions of others. To some people, pacifism may seem to be weak. In response to an event such as the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, many people believed that the best solution was to violently enter into the home countries of the terrorists and to take over through the use of brutal force. To some people, there are terrorists, offenders, on one side of the war, and defenders on the other. From this perspective, there are two teams in the war game, certain people who are committing evil and need to be stopped at all costs, even through harm and loss of life, and people who are engaged in righteous self defense. This philosophical viewpoint stems from a bipolar system, where some people are engaging in violence for bad reasons and some people for good reasons. This simple yet convoluted way of thinking is highly selfish and negative, in that one person, or one team, is the victim, the oppressed, the suffering agent, the other person or team is the tyrant, the oppressor, the harmful agent. In this mode of judgment, there is only one guilty party, and the guilty are deserving of cruel punishment. However, the essential problem is always the same, in that there is supposedly never a good reason to cause harm to another person. Although the determination for war may be convenient, especially when people are actively engaged in the violent activity, there is still the basic problem of violence as a moral problem rather than a solution. Dividing couples, families, societies, countries, and political systems into warring teams of bad versus good does little to solve the core issues of the criminality of causing harm to others. Rebuttal Although some people believe that the pacifist ideology is weak and perhaps even a pathetic mode of political action, a powerful case can be made in support of peaceful decision making, decisions which are strong and influential while also being relatively calm and diplomatic. There is no government which has successfully demilitarized their country, no political system which has shifted to a purely diplomatic strategy for achieving peaceful end results (Djerejian, 2007). Due to the fact that all countries in the world are suffering from some form of violence, the case can certainly be made that policies which promote violence simply encourage the violent behaviors of citizens. What a different world this would be if the response to an attack was to demilitarize a region, to offer one’s cheek. What an interesting phenomena it would be to witness a region where guns were systematically removed from all persons, homes, and cars, even if it meant being shot in the process. Although an initial, primal, or habitual response to an attack is to harm one’s attacker, there is the ever present possibility of changing one’s response, to commit to the idea of peaceably reacting in the face of impending danger. When a child is hitting a parent, often the best reaction is to let a child hit until the child realizes that the parent is not going to hit back, to allow the child to realize that the parent is totally loving and totally dependable. Conclusion The political solution for all policy making is always going to be a peaceful solution, whether politicians realize it or not. The leaders of the world are going to be the ones who quietly offer their cheek, who are committed to helping their neighbors, even when these neighbors are seeking revenge. It takes a smart person to realize that one is participating in an immorally violent society, and it takes an even smarter person to realize that one is responsible for being an agent of change in support of pacifism. There are very few truly innocent people out there, if any, no countries which are politically perfect. From this perspective, people need to humble themselves in the face of their neighbors, to be aware of the shameful past and current atrocities being committed by governments across the globe, and to resolutely stand for the implementation of peaceful solutions. Policies can only be effectively changed by people who are committed activists in the name of peace, and these activists are the leaders of the world, pacifists in the name of the goodness of humanity. References Djerejian, E. (2007). Changing Minds, Winning Peace: A New Strategic Direction for U. S. Public Diplomacy in the Arab Muslim World. Lulu. com. Ellens, H. (2007). The destructive power of religion: violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Greenwood Publishing Group. Fiala, A. (2004). Practical pacifism. Algora Publishing. Jacobson, A. (2007). Nonviolence as a Way of Knowing in the Public School Classroom. In Factis Pax 1(1), 38-54. Walzer, M. (2006). Just and unjust wars: a moral argument with historical illustrations. Basic Books. White, J. (2008). Contemporary Moral Problems. Cengage Learning.

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Today doing business is no longer a matter of creating the best products or making the most profit, it has developed to a matter of how? Due to scandals including child labour, poor working conditions and neglect of safety and health regulations, companies worldwide have been forced to revaluate their moral and ethical standards. Consumers are now caring about much more than just the product, which compel companies to monitor manufactures, secure labour standards and to be aware of the environment. This new phenomenon is called Corporate Social Responsibility or by its shortening CSR. Some companies like HM or Zara have rejected to be involved in CSR. Others have taken CSR to a whole new level. Nike Inc. has during the past years not only followed the recent development within CSR but the apparel mastodon has also evolved to be a role model. Nike has as many other companies renewed their supply chain and methods of manufacturing. Their newest motto â€Å"Innovative for a better world† describes their efforts at the most, but their new system of ranking manufactures, their Materials Sustainability Index that provides designers with information on the potential environmental impact of the products they use, recycling program of old shoes and their new manufacturing process of their recent shoe â€Å"Flyknit† with minimal waste speaks for it self. Nike has with these investments proved they are willing to â€Å"Innovate for a better world† but how does it affect Nikes marketing environment and will these investments comply with the overall concept: Making money? Nike is market leader within athletic products worldwide and is considered the 26th most powerful brand by Forbes. The athletic brand has an annual turn over on 21.8 billion dollars and spends 2.7 billion dollars on advertising every year. The importance of Nike is not to be mistaken. Therefore their latest investments in CSR are a huge boost to the issue. Many huge companies such as HM and Zara have rejected to invest in CSR although their have been numerous scandals of poor working condition and child labour, which shows not all companies are willing to invest in sustainability and social causes. Nike has actually been involved in such  scandals, but denied all accusations. Nike has however with these new methods shut up all the critics. The company has been known for innovate shoes and closes to new standards and has used their strength in innovation to create new business methods: â€Å"Our vision is clear: to help NIKE, Inc. and our consumers thrive in a sustainable economy where people, profit and planet are in balance† . Nike is, according to this quote, trying to accomplish the almost impossible and create a win–win situation for the company it self and its marketing environment. But is this possible? I believe so! They have created better work conditions for employees of their manufactures because of the pressure Nike has put on theme. Nike rate the manufactures with gold, silver and bronze medals and have set the goal of all manufactures should have a bronze medal by 2020. And although Nike has made huge investments in innovating their products to new manufacturing and product standards with focus on low environmental damage and a lot of recycling and therefore probably raised their prices, consumers actually stand by Nikes new methods although raised prices usually do not get the approval of the average consumer. Nikes revenue has increased from 18,528 million dollar in 2009 to 25,313 million dollar in the fiscal year of 2013. This could be caused by the increased prices of their products but Nikes return on invested capital has followed the same development and has increased from 17.8 % in 2009 to 23,8 % in the fiscal year of 2013. What is more, all this is accomplished during a very difficult financial period, which only gives Nike extra credit. Furthermore Nike is increasing the competitive situation when they implement other competitive parameters than just product or price. Nike is also forcing the consumers to make a choice: Cheap products manufactured by brands, who do not have the same CSR – profile as Nike and therefore do not care about sustainability, the environment or employees of the manufactures, who often work under poor conditions and put their lives on the risk every day, just to make some close or Nike who are trying to do the right thing and change these things. I am a big fan of Nike’s new manufacturing methods! They seem to have made  the impossible and made a win – win situation. They keep innovating new clothing and shoes, which becomes popular the moment it hits the market. And they accomplish this wonder contemporary with investing in better work conditions, sustainability and low environmental damage. Additionally they keep improving their accounting figures, even in difficult financial times! Absolutely amazing in my opinion! B: Blog Then it happened again. A huge company forgot to do their research properly. We have seen it before when the Japanese car manufacturing giant Mazda named their car â€Å"MR2†, which means faeces in the French language or when Warner Brothers named their new big movie wonder â€Å"Free Willy†, which is not the nicest word in the British language. This time it was the American athletic brand Nike, which released their new shoe â€Å"Black and Tan† close to St. Patrick’s Day. It was a tribute to the huge beer brewery Guiness, which also inspires the shoe, which includes an illustration of a beer in the sole. Usually that kind of shoe would have been popular among the beer loving Irish people. But Nike’s marketing people forgot one thing: The Black and Tan was a violent British paramilitary, which ravaged the Irish independence wars and among this the atrocities of Bloody Sunday. Not a name you want to use for a shoe honoring the Irish peoples most favo rite company. And Nike has experienced the consequences of the mistake. Nike has put a lot of money into innovating and advertising the shoe, which only makes the fault bigger. Some simple research or a Googling of â€Å"Black and Tan† could have averted the problem. Nike has now made a shoe to tribute Guiness that they cannot sell in Ireland. It may have ruined Nikes reputation and brand in Ireland and it has cost Nike million of dollars in manufacturing the shoe and may even cost billions of dollars in losses of future sales in Ireland. Hopefully Nike and other companies have learned their lesson and in the future understand the importance of cultural research.

Effect of Synthesis Temperature on Nickel-Cobalt Hydroxides

Effect of Synthesis Temperature on Nickel-Cobalt Hydroxides Effect of synthesis temperature on the morphology and pseudocapacitive behavior of Nickel-Cobalt layered double hydroxides Li-Ming Lua, Shan-Shan Xua, Rui-Qi Fenga, Zhan-Bing He b, Tie-Zhen Rena* and Teresa J. Bandoszc a School of Chemical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130 China b State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China c Department of Chemistry and Biochemistryà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’The City college of New York, 160 Convent Ave., New York, NY 10031. * Corresponding author. Tel. +86 22 60204909. Email:[emailprotected] Abstract   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   A facile one-step method for preparing nickel/cobalt layered double hydroxides (Ni/Co LDH) in a mixture of NH4Cl/NaOH solutions in the temperature range 45-85 oC is introduced. Ni/Co LDH consists of ultrathin nanosheets of various thicknesses assembled into porous nanostructures/microspheres. The mixed solution provides OH, whose amount depends on the temperature, for reactions with Ni2+/Co2+ leading to the formation of hydroxides. The sample prepared at 70  °C shows the highest capacitance of 1142 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1.That capacitance decreases about 15 % to 970 F g-1 at a high current density of 10 A g-1. The temperature effect on the arrangement of microsphere is apparent and Ni/Co LDH prepared at 70 oC has the most defectless texture (microspheres). The asymmetrical supercapacitor consisting of this sample as an anode and an activated carbon (AC) as a cathode works in a broad potential window from 0 to 1.6 V. The energy density of the Ni/Co of such a system reaches 58.13 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 160 W kg-1 owing to the intersectional nanosheets and unrestricted accessibility of electrolyte to the reaction centers. Even at a high discharge current density of 2 A g-1, the energy density still remains at 45.78 Wh kg-1 with a power density of 1600 W kg-1. Keywords: mild temperature, layered double hydroxides, energy density, asymmetric supercapacitors. 1. Introduction Nowadays, the development of efficient supercapacitors with high energy density is of paramount importance [1, 2]. Generally, supercapacitors can be classified into electrochemical double layer capacitors and pseudocapacitors [3]. In theory, pseudocapacitors exhibit a higher capacitance and energy density than the double layer capacitors. The latter stores electrical charge mainly at the electrode/electrolyte interface. However, the energy stored in supercapacitors is about 10 times smaller than that in batteries. This severely limits their applications where a high power density is required [4]. Therefore, there is a need to develop and to explore the advanced performance electrode materials for their applications in energy storage devices. Layered double hydroxides (LDH), especially Ni/Co LDH compounds, are considered as materials of promising properties when applied in supercapacitors [5-7]. In their structure Co2+ can be oxidized to conductive CoOOH during redox reactions resulting in the improvement in conductivity of electrode materials [5]. For instance, Ni/Co LDHs hollow microspheres obtained in SiO2 templates exhibited the specific capacitance of 2171 F g-1 at the current density of 1 A g-1 [6]. Another examples are ultrathin NiCo-based LDH prepared at 120  °C, which displayed remarkable specific capacitance of 1537 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 [5]. It is important to mention that Ni/Co LDH referred as hydrotalcite-like compounds allow the intercalation of negatively charged anions within the interlayer space [7, 8]. This is expected to enhance the capacitive performance. Thus Lee et al. synthesized ÃŽÂ ±-Ni(OH)2 through exchange of intercalated dodecyl sulfate anions by smaller anions (Cl, NO3, OAc and SO42-). They found that larger anions hindered the mobility of OH ions toward the surface of Ni(OH)2 sheets and Cl intercalated Ni(OH)2 exhibited excellent capacitance. Especially, the Cl ions located in the interlayer space were found as increasing its hydration level and thus enhanced the facile exchange and transport of OH ions [9]. Hu et al. reported the effect of intercalated anions on the size of an interlayer spacing, morphologies, and capacitive performance of four different ÃŽÂ ±-cobalt hydroxides. Their results showed the Cl intercalated sample as the one of the marked capacitance. The good performance was linked to its high proton affinity [10]. In this work, we introduce a wet chemical approach to prepare Cl intercalated Ni/Co LDH. The synthesis is done below 85 °C, which is the lower temperature than those reported in other hydrothermal methods [11, 12]. In designing the method, it was expected that OH ions from the solution of NH4Cl/NaOH will reacts with Ni2+/Co2+ to generate Ni/Co LDH. An important aspect is that the amount of the released OH ions should be affected by the temperature. Thus the synthesis temperature is a factor, which we expect to govern the nanosheets assembling process and thus the final morphology of the materials. The effect of that morphology on capacitive behavior is investigated. 2. Experimental 2.1 Preparation of Ni/Co-LDH microspheres All reagents were of analytical grade and were used without further purification. In a typical synthesis process, 3.75 mmol of Co(NO3)2 ·6H2O and 3.75 mol of Ni(NO3)2 6H2O were dissolved in 20 ml of water to form a pink solution (Solution A). 40 mmol of NH4Cl was added in 0.076 mol L-1 NaOH (180 mL) to form a transparent solution (Solution B); Then, the solution A was poured into 180 ml of the solution B with the final pH value of 9, in which the metal hydroxide mixtures were obtained. After stirring for 5 minutes, the solution was sealed in a glass bottle and transferred into an oven kept at a predetermined temperature (40, 55, 70 and 85  °C) for 15h. After cooled at room temperature, the obtained Ni/Co-LDH samples were washed with ethanol and water several times and dried in an oven at 60  °C for 12 h. The samples are referred to as Ni/Co LDH-x (x represents the reaction temperature of either 40, 55, 70 or 85  °C). 2.2 Characterization methods X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were measured on a Bruker D8 Advance diffractometer operated at 40 kV and 40 mA, Cu KÃŽÂ ± radiation source (ÃŽÂ »Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  0.154 nm) was used. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) experiments were carried out on Bruker Vector 22 infrared spectroscopy in the range of 400 to 4000 cm-1with KBr tablets. Scanning electron microscopy studies (SEM) were performed on JSM-6490LV field emission scanning electron microscope. The sample was dispersed on the conductive tape fixed on the aluminum support. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis was performed on a FEI Tecnai G20 microscope at 200 keV. The elemental analysis of as-prepared powder carried out using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF, CIT-3000SL). 2.3 Electrochemical tests To evaluate the electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials, thee Ni/Co LDH samples were mixed with acetylene black and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in a mass ratio of 75:20:5. Homogeneous pastes obtained in ethanol were coated on a nickel foam substrate. The coated nickel foam was then pressed at 10 MPa and the obtained plate was used as a working electrode after dried at 60  °C for 12 h. The cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance (EIS) of the as-obtained samples were carried out on a IM6 ZENNIUM electrochemical workstation in a three-electrode cell. The mass of working electrode was about 8 mg. The capacitance was measured in 6M KOH electrolyte using a platinum wire as a counter electrode and Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode. EIS tests were conducted in a frequency range from 100 kHz to 10 mHz with alternating current oscillation of 5 mV. The electrochemical performance of an asymmetric supercapacitor was invest igated in a two-electrode cell of coin-type (CR2025), in which the prepared materials were used as a positive electrode and activated carbon- as a negative electrode. The experiments were carried out on the Land-CT2001A battery system in the potential range from 0 to 1.6 V. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Characterization of materials The typical powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns provide the information on the degree of crystallinity and the crystal structure of the Ni/Co LDH materials (Figure 1a) The distinct characteristic diffraction peaks on XRD patterns at 2ÃŽÂ ¸ 11.1, 22.2, 33.4 and 38.5 are indexed as (003), (006), (009) and (015) plane reflections of the hydrotalcite-like LDH phase, respectively [11, 13]. Increasing the reaction temperature leads to a slight increase in the intensity of the diffraction peaks. According to the Bragg equation, the calculated interlayer space of Ni/Co LDH is 0.79 nm. Ma et al. reported that the layered transitional metal hydroxides nanocones displayed a variety of interlayer space sizes depending on the kind of intercalated ions [12]. The values were 0.8 nm for NO3, 0.92 nm for ClO4, and 0.79 nm for Cl. Our results suggest that Cl ions are present in the interlayer space of the synthesized ÃŽÂ ±-phase compounds. FT-IR spectra of all samples are presented in Figure 1b. The broad band at about 3449 cm-1 is characteristic of the stretching vibration of hydroxyl groups hydrogen-bond to H2O [1]. The band at about 1630 cm-1 represents the bending mode of water molecules [10]. For all samples, three bands at 1476, 1349 and 854 cm-1 are linked to the typical features of carbonate ions [14]. Their presence is linked to the reactivity of hydroxides with atmospheric CO2. Bands below 800 cm-1represent stretching modes of metal-oxygen in the hydrotalcite-like lattice [1]. The band at about 649 cm-1 is assigned to Ni-OH bending. The absorption band at around 514 cm-1 represents the Co-O stretching vibrations [15]. The results indicate that the synthesized materials are nickel and cobalt layered double hydroxides. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the morphologies of the obtained Ni/Co LDH materials prepared at different temperatures. Figure 2a shows a typical SEM image of Ni/Co LDH-40. There microspheres with a size around 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m and a small amount of aggregated nanosheets is visible (Fig. 2a inset). The micro-spherical particles consist of numerous interconnected nanosheets with thickness of about 30 nm. The morphology of Ni/Co LDH-55 presented in Figure 2b resembles that of Ni/Co LDH-40. The nanosheets with thickness around 20 nm are gathered in 3-D arrangements (Fig. 2b inset). When the reaction temperature increases to 70  °C, the microspheres of sample Ni/Co LDH-70 become well defined,defectless and uniform (Fig. 2c). Their size distribution is narrow with maximum at 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m. The detailed features of Ni/Co LDH-70 are shown in the Figure 2c (inset) where high-quality 3D flower-like microspheres are visible. The thickness of the nanosheets is about 15 nm. Wh en the Ni/Co LDH material was prepared at 85  °C, the microspheres are not well-defined and some debris are visible (Fig. 2d). The spherical particles have a loose structure and some collapsed nanosheets overlay each other to construct larger sheets. Enlargement of the flower-like microsphere indicates that the nanosheets are interconnected and well-organized in three dimension (Fig. 2d inset). The thickness of nanosheets increases slightly when the temperature increases from 70  °C to 85  °C.    In order to confirm the defectless microsphere/nanosheet morphology of Ni/Co LDH-70 sample, its internal structure has been further investigated by TEM. Figure 3a shows that the microsphere is assembled from nanosheets and the diameter of the microsphere is around 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m. The internal structure of microsphere is spacious and the nanosheets are the aggregates of even thinner layers. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra were recorded for all samples. On the spectra, three marked peaks at 6.93, 7.48 and 8.26 KeV are identified as Co KÃŽÂ ±, Ni KÃŽÂ ± and Ni KÃŽÂ ², respectively. This supports the co-existence of Ni and Co elements in all samples. Moreover, a peak at about 2.62 KeV is assigned as Cl KÃŽÂ ±, which originates from the interlayer anion Cl. It is interesting that the Ni/Co ratio of the as-obtained samples increased gradually with an increase in the temperature. This may be linked to the differences to the solubility constants of hydroxides (Ksp(Co(OH)2 )>Ksp(Ni(OH)2)) and to the effect of temperature on that solubility [11].    The results obtained suggest that the reaction temperature plays a crucial role in the formation of microspheres. The nucleation of Co(OH)2/Ni(OH)2 took places upon the addition of metal ions to the NH4Cl/NaOH solution. In such a system the involvement of OH in the formation of metal hydroxides competes with the formation of ammonia (NH4Cl+ NaOH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢NH4+ + OH + NaCl à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢NH3 + H2O, Co2+ + OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Co(OH)2, Ni2++ OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ni(OH)2). This affects the amount of OH reacting with metal ions. The size of nanosheets/hydroxide units increases with an increasing temperature owing to more energy provided to the system. This leads to a gradual increase in the sizes of microspheres built of these nanosheets. Even though the temperature range of the alkaline solution was not very broad and between 40 and 85  °C, 70  °C was found as the only temperature resulting in the uniform and defectless microspheres. Lower temperature of the system has an adverse effect on the formation of microspheres, likely due to the thicker nanosheets than those formed at 70 oC. On the other hand, higher temperature likely leads to collapsing of the formed microspheres [16]. 3.2 Electrochemical tests To evaluate the electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials, the cycling voltammetry (CV) curves were measured for Ni/Co LDH materials at a scan rate of 5 mv s-1 in 6M KOH aqueous solution (Fig. 4a). It is clearly seen that all curves exhibit a pair of redox peaks. An anodic peak is around 0.45 V and a cathodic peak- at about 0.2 V. They represent typical features of Faradaic pseudocapacitance representing the following reactions [6, 17]. Ni(OH)2 + OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬  NiOOH +H2O +e-  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (1) Co(OH)2 + OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬  CoOOH+H2O+e-  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (2) CoOOH+OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬  CoO2+H2O+e-  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (3) The shapes of the CV curves indicate that Ni/Co LDH-70 has the highest specific capacitance [18]. To further investigate the capacitive behavior of our electroactive materials, the galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) measurements were performed in a three-electrode system and the specific capacitance (Cs) was calculated from the following equation (4): (4) Where I is a constant discharge current (A), Άt is discharge time (s), ΆV is the potential difference, m is the mass of active material. The GCD measurements in a potential window of 0-0.5 V are recorded at a current density of 1 A g-1 (Fig. 4b). The results show that the discharge time of Ni/Co LDH-70 is much longer than those of other electrodes. Based on the GCD curves, the specific capacitance was calculated. The values are 777, 608, 114,2 and 1017 F g-1 for Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55, Ni/Co LDH-70, and Ni/Co LDH-85, respectively. Wang et al. [19] prepared Ni/Co nanoplates using a surfactant assisted method. The rough nanoplates of an increased surface area displayed the specific capacitance of 311 F g-1, which was 2.3 times higher than that of smooth-surfaced Ni/Co nanoplates. It was concluded that creating more interspaces or a larger area can improve an electrochemical performance [19, 20]. Amongst our samples, Ni/Co LDH-70 with three dimensional defectless microspheres exhibits the highest capacitance. This texture promotes the electrolyte access to the more active centers than those available to electrolyte i n more defected microspheres of the samples synthesized at other temperatures. Since Ni/Co LDH-70 exhibits the best performance, its CV curves were measured at the scan rates 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mV s-1 (Figure 4c). The shape of the CV curves remains almost unchanged with an increase in the scan rate, suggesting a quick CV response with fast potential sweep and promising capability for energy storage [21]. In addition, all CV curves present a well-defined reduction and oxidation peaks with a slight shift in both cathodic and anodic peak potentials with an increasing scan rate. This suggests that an ion diffusion rate limits the redox reaction [22]. GCD curves of Ni/Co LDH-70 at different current densities (Fig.4d) show two visible voltage plateaus in the charge and discharge parts of the plots. More importantly, the GCD curves of Ni/Co LDH-70 are highly symmetrical at various current densities, indicating fast and good electrochemical reversibility of the Faradaic redox reactions. The capacitance of Ni/Co LDH-70 calculated from the GCD curves at the current densities of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 A g-1are 1142, 1130, 1098, 1081, 1053, 994, and 970 F g-1, respectively. The capacitance values gradually decrease with increasing current densities from 0.5 to 10 A g-1, owing to the fast electron transfer [23]. Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 exhibit the capacitance of 777, 608 and 1017 F g-1, respectively. It is important to mention that the specific capacitance of Ni/Co LDH-70 is 970 F g-1 at a high current density of 10 A g-1, and it consists of 84.9% of that at 0.5 A g-1. For Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 , the corresponding values are at 610, 392 and 812 F g-1 representing the capacitance retentions of 78.5%, 64.5% and 79.8%, respectively. Such differences in the electrochemical performance can be explained by the morphology differences between the samples. As discussed above, the Ni/Co LDH-70 sample consists of uniform three dimensional microspheres built of nanosheets with the interspaces between them. These spaces increase the electrolyte access to the surface of the active materials. Thus the interconnected thin nonosheets in defectless microspheres provide more active sites for reactions with the electrons, which leads to the high capacitance [24, 25]. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement is one of the fundamental methods to examine the electrochemical behavior of electrode materials. The Nyquist plots for the Ni/Co LDH materials in a frequency range of 100 kHz to10 mHz are displayed in Figure 5a. All the impedance spectra of the Ni-Co LDH materials are very similar to each other with a small semicircle at high-frequency and an inclined line at low-frequency [26]. The point intersecting with the real axis (Z) at the high frequency represents the internal resistance, which includes the total resistances of intrinsic resistance of active materials, electrolyte resistance. and the contact resistance at electrolyte/electrode interface (Fig. 5a inset) [27]. This value is almost the same for all electrodes. The semicircle at the high frequency corresponds to the charge transfer resistance (Rct) [28]. At low frequencies, the liner part shows the Warburg impedance resulting from the ion diffusion resistance of the elect rolyte in the active material [21]. Ni/Co LDH-70 exhibits the smallest semicircle diameter, which suggests the minimum charge transfer resistance and maximal electrochemical conductivity. The straight line at low frequencies range is close to Z axis. This suggests that the capacitive performance is not only related to the diffusion process but double layer can also form [21, 29]. The effective ions diffusion and electron transfer of the Ni/Co LDH-70 electrode can be linked to the well-organized three dimensional and defectless micropheres [30]. For the evaluation of the feasibility of practical application of our materials, we constructed the asymmetric supercapacitors with Ni/Co LDH-70 as a positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as a negative electrode in 6 M KOH solution. The charge-discharge measurements of the Ni/Co LDH-70 were carried out at the current density range from 0.2 to 2 A g-1 with an operating potential from 0 to 1.6 V (Fig. 5b). All curves show the symmetric-like shape, indicating the high electrochemical reversibility of the process. In addition, Ni/Co LDH-70 displays a small voltage drop at the beginning of the discharge process due to the internal resistance [31]. The values of specific capacitance of Ni/Co LDH-70 calculated from the galvanostatic charge -discharge curves are 163.5, 151, 137, 133 and 129 F g-1 at current densities of 0.2, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 A g-1, respectively. And 78.7% of the capacitance is retained when the current density increases from 0.2 to 2 A g-1. For comparison, the specif ic capacitances of all supercapacitors tested are collected in Table 2. The supercapacitors of Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 show the specific capacitance of only 109, 86 and 150 F g-1 at 0.2 A g-1. They still keep 84, 62 and 117 F g-1 at 2 A g-1, respectively. The capacitances of Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 maintain at 77.2%, 72.3% and 78.2%, respectively, when the current density increases from 0.2 to 2 A g-1. Based on those specific capacitance values, the energy and power densities of supercapacitors were further calculated ( and )[32]. Figure 5c shows that the energy densities decrease gradually with the increase in the power densities for all cells. At the same power density, the energy density of Ni/Co LDH-70 is much higher than those of other cells, which means that the Ni/Co LDH-70 cell has superior performance in terms of both energy and power density. The energy density of the Ni/Co LDH-70 is 58.13 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 160 W kg-1. Even at a high discharge current of 2 A g-1, the energy density still remains at 45.78 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 1600 W kg-1. Compared to other samples, the asymmetric supercapacitor of Ni/Co LDH-70 exhibits a significant improvement in both power density and energy density. This may be due to its broad potential window of 0-1.6 V and the high specific capacitance. The well-defined three dimensional microspheres of Ni/Co LDH-70 lead to the excellent energy-power combination. The results are comparable with those reported in the literature [5, 6]. For instance, Li et al. reported a new synthetic method for preparation of 16 nm-ultrathin NiCo-based layered double hydroxides (LDH) in an ethylene glycol solution. Their assembled asymmetric capacitor exhibited an energy density of 33.7 Wh kg-1 at power density of 551 W kg-1 with a 1.5 V operating voltage [5]. Tang et al. synthesized nickel cobalt double hydroxide nanoflowers with various Ni/Co ratios using a simple hydrothermal process at 120  °C. Their asymmetric supercapcitor exhibited 19.4 Wh kg-1 at 80.5 W kg-1, and even 20.6 Wh kg-1 at 3.93 kW kg-1 [6]. Cycling stability is a prime factor for evaluating the practical performance of asymmetric supercapacitors. Figure 5d collects the capacity for 2000 cycles of charge-discharge measurements between 0 and 1.6 V at a current density of 1 A g-1 in a two-electrode system. The capacitances of all Ni/Co LDH remains almost unchanged. With an increasing cycle number, the interfacial contact between the active material and a nickel foam may deteriorate, owing to the volume change of the active material during charge-discharge process. This might lead to a higher ohmic resistance of the asymmetric supercapacitors [33]. The calculated capacitances from GCD curve retain about 84.7%, 88.4%, 92.2% and 91.5% of their original capacitances after 2000 cycles for Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55, Ni/Co LDH-70 and Ni/Co LDH-85, respectively. The asymmetric supercapacitor of the Ni/Co LDH-70 shows a better cycling stability than those reported for other supercapacitors consisting of Ni/Co hydroxides [5, 6]. 4. Conclusions Ni/Co LDH of diverse morphologies determined by different particle sizes and thicknesses of nanosheets have been successfully prepared at various reaction temperatures in NH4Cl/NaOH mixture. Apparently the temperate affects the amount of OH and the kinetic of its release. Both those factors govern the morphology of assemabled Ni/Co LDH. The synthesized materials showed differences in their electrochemical performance. The Ni/Co LDH-70 (prepared at 70 °C) consists of uniform, defectless and well-defined microspheres with diameters around 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m. These 3-D microspheres are constructed from interconnected ultrathin nanosheets. Such an arrangement provides the space accessible to electrolyte and enables an efficient utilization of active centers. It also results in a high stability of the electrode upon cycling. Ni/Co LDH-70 shows the highest capacitance of 1142 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 and the value is still at 970 F g-1 at a high current density of 10A g-1, which is 84.9% of that at 0.5A g-1. The asymmetrical Ni/Co LDH-70 // activated carbon (AC) supercapacitor was tested in two-electrode system with a wide potential window of 0-1.6V. The results show that highest energy density of the Ni/Co LDH-70 reaching 58.13 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 160 W kg-1. Even at a high discharge current of 2 A g-1, the energy density still remains at 45.78 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 1600 W kg-1. Acknowledgement This work was supported by China Scholar Council, the Scientific Research Foundation for the returned overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry and Hebei Provincial Key Lab of Green Chemical Technology High Efficient Energy Saving, School of Chemical Engineering Technology, Hebei University of Technology and Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Nankai University. References [1] T. Yan, Z.J. Li, R.Y. Li, Q. Ning, H. Kong, Y.L. Niu, J.K. Liu, Nickel-cobalt double hydroxides microspheres with hollow interior and hedgehog-like exterior structures for supercapacitors, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 22 (2012) 23587-23592. [2] H.N. Ma, J. He, D.B. Xiong, J.S. Wu, Q.Q. Li, V. Dravid, Y.F. Zhao, Nickel Cobalt Hydroxide @Reduced Graphene Oxide Hybrid Nanolayers for High Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitors with Remarkable Cycling Stability, Acs Applied Materials Interfaces, 8 (2016) 1992-2000. [3] W.P. Sun, X.H. Rui, M. Ulaganathan, S. Madhavi, Q.Y. Yan, Few-layered Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets for high-performance supercapacitors, Journal of Power Sources, 295 (2015) 323-328. [4] T. Yan, H.Y. Zhu, R.Y. Li, Z.J. Li, J.K. Liu, G.L. Wang, Z.Q. Gu, Microwave synthesis of nickel/cobalt double hydroxide ultrathin flowerclusters with three-dimensional structures for high-performance supercapacitors, Electrochimica Acta, 111 (2013) 71-79. [5] R. Li, Z. Hu, X. Shao, P. Cheng, S. Li, W. Yu, W. Lin, D. Yuan, Large Scale Synthesis of NiCo Layered Double Hydroxides for Superior Asymmetric Electrochemical Capacitor, Scitific Report, 6 (2016) 18737. [6] Y. Tang, Y. Liu, S. Yu, W. Guo, S. Mu, H. Wang, Y. Zhao, L. Hou, Y. Fan, F. Gao, Template-free hydrothermal synthesis of nickel cobalt hydroxide nanoflowers with high performance for asymmetric supercapacitor, Electrochimica Acta, 161 (2015) 279-289. [7] B. Mavis, M. Akinc, Three-component layer double hydroxides by urea precipitation: structural stability and electrochemistry, Journal of Power Sources, 134 (2004) 308-317. [8] T. Hibino, H. Ohya, Synthesis of crystalline layered double hydroxides: Precipitation by using urea hydrolysis and subsequent hydrothermal reactions in aqueous solutions, Applied Clay Science 45 (2009) 123-132. [9] J.W. Lee, J.M. Ko, J.-D. Kim, Hierarchical Microspheres Based on alpha-Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets Intercalated with Different Anions: Synthesis, Anion Exchange, and Effect of Intercalated Anions on Electrochemical Capacitance, J Phys Chem C, 115 (2011) 19445-19454. [10] Z.A. Hu, Y.L. Xie, Y.X. Wang, L.J. Xie, G.R. Fu, X.Q. Jin, Z.Y. Zhang, Y.Y. Yang, H.Y. Wu, Synthesis of alpha-Cobalt Hydroxides with Different Intercalated Anions and Effects of Intercalated Anions on Their Morphology, Basal Plane Spacing, and Capacitive Property, J Phys Chem C, 113 (2009) 12502-12508. [11] H. Chen, L. Hu, M. Chen, Y. Yan, L. Wu, Nickel- Cobalt Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets for High- performance Supercapacitor Electrode Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, 24 (2014) 934-942. [12] X. Liu, R. Ma, Y. Bando, T. Sasaki, A General Strategy to Layered Transition-Metal Hydroxide Nanocones: Tuning the Composition for High Electrochemical Performance, Advanced Materials, 24 (2012) 2148-2153. [13] J. Huang, T. Lei, X. Wei, X. Liu, T. Liu, D. Cao, J. Yin, G. Wang, Effect of Al-doped beta-Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets on electrochemical behaviors for high performance supercapacitor application, Journal of Power Sources, 232 (2013) 370-375. [14] M. Li, K.Y. Ma, J.P. Cheng, D.H. Lv, X.B. Zhang, Nickel-cobalt hydroxide nanoflakes conformal coating on carbon nanotubes as a supercapacitiv

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Cost of Living in America

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