Electrodeposited Copper Tin Sulfide/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanospikes for a High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrode

Endale Kebede Feyie; Lemma Teshome Tufa; Jaebeom Lee; Aschalew Tadesse; Enyew Amare Zereffa

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c09008

Electrodeposited Copper Tin Sulfide/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanospikes for a High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrode

ACS Omega. 2024 Feb 12;9(8):9452-9462. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c09008. eCollection 2024 Feb 27.

Authors

Endale Kebede Feyie¹, Lemma Teshome Tufa^{1

2}, Jaebeom Lee^{2

3}, Aschalew Tadesse¹, Enyew Amare Zereffa¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, Adama Science and Technology University, P.O. Box: 1888, Adama 1888, Ethiopia.
² Research Institute of Materials Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Copper tin sulfide, Cu₄SnS₄ (CTS), a ternary transition-metal chalcogenide with unique properties, including superior electrical conductivity, distinct crystal structure, and high theoretical capacity, is a potential candidate for supercapacitor (SC) electrode materials. However, there are few studies reporting the application of Cu₄SnS₄ or its composites as electrode materials for SCs. The reported performance of the Cu₄SnS₄ electrode is insufficient regarding cycle stability, rate capability, and specific capacity; probably resulting from poor electrical conductivity, restacking, and agglomeration of the active material during continued charge-discharge cycles. Such limitations can be overcome by incorporating graphene as a support material and employing a binder-free, facile, electrodeposition technique. This work reports the fabrication of a copper tin sulfide-reduced graphene oxide/nickel foam composite electrode (CTS-rGO/NF) through stepwise, facile electrodeposition of rGO and CTS on a NF substrate. Electrochemical evaluations confirmed the enhanced supercapacitive performance of the CTS-rGO/NF electrode compared to that of CTS/NF. A remarkably improved specific capacitance of 820.83 F g^-1 was achieved for the CTS-rGO/NF composite electrode at a current density of 5 mA cm^-2, which is higher than that of CTS/NF (516.67 F g^-1). The CTS-rGO/NF composite electrode also exhibited a high-rate capability of 73.1% for galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) current densities, ranging from 5 to 12 mA cm^-2, and improved cycling stability with over a 92% capacitance retention after 1000 continuous GCD cycles; demonstrating its excellent performance as an electrode material for energy storage applications, encompassing SCs. The enhanced performance of the CTS-rGO/NF electrode could be attributed to the synergetic effect of the enhanced conductivity and surface area introduced by the inclusion of rGO in the composite.