Enhancing the electrochemical performance of nickel cobalt sulfides hollow nanospheres by structural modulation for asymmetric supercapacitors

Yuenian Shen; Ke Zhang; Boheng Chen; Fang Yang; Kaibing Xu; Xihong Lu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.09.007

Enhancing the electrochemical performance of nickel cobalt sulfides hollow nanospheres by structural modulation for asymmetric supercapacitors

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 Dec 1:557:135-143. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.09.007. Epub 2019 Sep 4.

Authors

Yuenian Shen¹, Ke Zhang², Boheng Chen¹, Fang Yang³, Kaibing Xu⁴, Xihong Lu⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China.
² College of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China.
³ College of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address: yfang@sues.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China; Research Center for Analysis and Measurement, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address: xukaibing@dhu.edu.cn.
⁵ MOE of the Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, The Key Lab of Low-carbon Chem & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China. Electronic address: luxh6@mail.sysu.edu.cn.

PMID: 31518835
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.09.007

Abstract

The development of nickel cobalt sulfides electrodes with excellent electrochemical performance is important for supercapacitor applications. In this study, we constructed well-defined hierarchical nanosheet-built NiCo₂S₄/Co₉S₈ hollow nanospheres based on morphology and structural engineering. A combination of structural and compositional advantages endowed NiCo₂S₄/Co₉S₈ hollow nanospheres with enhanced electrochemical performance with favorable capacitance of 1008 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1, exceeding that of single-component NiS (616 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1) and Co₃S₄ (430 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1). Furthermore, an assembled asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) comprising NiCo₂S₄/Co₉S₈ hollow nanospheres and activated carbon achieved a high energy density up to 36.7 Wh kg^-1 at 800 W kg^-1, suggesting that it could be a promising electroactive material for energy storage devices.

Keywords: Asymmetric supercapacitors; Hierarchical assembly; Hollow nanospheres; Nickel cobalt sulfides; Structural modulation; Sulfuration.