The effects of electron beam irradiation on the electrical and the optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films, prepared by the sol-gel technique, were investigated. The grain size, surface morphology, sheet resistance, optical constants, absorption edge, and direct and indirect optical band gaps of these films were analyzed before and after exposure to electron beam. The decrease in the structural homogeneity and the crystallinity of the films after exposure to electron irradiation is observed. The irradiation causes increase in the sheet resistance and blueshift in the absorption edge for both ZnO and ZnO:Al films. The change in carrier concentration due to doping as well as the exposure to electron beam are responsible for the modified electrical and optical properties.

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In this study, the use of exfoliation‐restacking strategy to prepare mesoporous nanohybrids of 2D Nickel‐chromium‐layered double hydroxide (Ni‐Cr‐LDH) nanosheets pillared with polyoxovanadate (POV) anions (Ni‐Cr‐LDH‐POV) for a high‐performance hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) is demonstrated. The pillaring approach of Ni‐Cr‐LDH monolayers with POV anions via exfoliation‐restacking strategy yields mesoporous ordered layered structure with a high surface area and interconnected network morphology. The pillared hybridization of Ni‐Cr‐LDH with POV anions boosts the electrochemical performance of the pristine Ni‐Cr‐LDH, which is attributed to the development of layer‐by‐layer stacking structure with expanded gallery height and high surface area interconnected network morphology. The Ni‐Cr‐LDH‐POV nanohybrid electrode exhibits an improved specific capacity of 294.5 mAh g−1 as compared to pristine Ni‐Cr‐LDH electrode (98.9 mAh g−1) at 1 mA cm−2 with 82% capacity retention after 5000 charge‐discharge cycles. A full‐cell HSC composed of mesoporous Ni‐Cr‐LDH‐POV nanohybrid as a cathode and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as an anode delivers a maximum specific energy of 57.78 Wh kg−1 and specific power of 1.59 kW kg−1 with 87% cyclic durability over 10 000 charge‐discharge cycles. The present study demonstrates the usefulness of the pillared Ni‐Cr‐LDH‐POV nanohybrids via exfoliation‐restacking strategy for exploring high‐performance HSC.

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