Construction of ultra-stable trinickel disulphide (Ni3S2)/polyaniline (PANI) electrodes based on carbon fibers for high performance flexible asymmetric supercapacitors

Lei Wang; Maolin Bo; Zengcai Guo; Huanhuan Li; Zhongkai Huang; Hongwei Che; Zhihang Feng; Yanming Wang; Jingbo Mu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.05.046

Construction of ultra-stable trinickel disulphide (Ni₃S₂)/polyaniline (PANI) electrodes based on carbon fibers for high performance flexible asymmetric supercapacitors

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Oct 1:577:29-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.05.046. Epub 2020 May 18.

Authors

Lei Wang¹, Maolin Bo², Zengcai Guo³, Huanhuan Li¹, Zhongkai Huang⁴, Hongwei Che¹, Zhihang Feng¹, Yanming Wang¹, Jingbo Mu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Novel Materials for Energy and Environment, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, People's Republic of China.
² Key Laboratory of Extraordinary Bond Engineering and Advanced Materials Technology (EBEAM) of Chongqing, Yangtze Normal University, Chongqing 408100, People's Republic of China.
³ Institute of Novel Materials for Energy and Environment, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: guozengcai@sina.com.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
⁵ Institute of Novel Materials for Energy and Environment, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: jingbomu@hebeu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32470702
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.05.046

Abstract

Highly flexible supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted significant attention in modern electronics. However, it has been found that flexible, metal sulfide-based electrodes usually suffer from corrosion, instability and low conductivity, which significantly limits their large scale application. Herein, we report on an electrode comprised of highly stable, free-standing carbon fiber/trinickel disulphide covered with polyaniline (CF/Ni₃S₂@PANI). This electrode was prepared and then employed in a high-performance of flexible asymmetric SCs (FASC). The coating layer of polyaniline served as both a protector and conducting shell for the Ni₃S₂ due to the nature of the highly stable N-Ni bonds that formed between the polyaniline and Ni₃S₂. In addition, the lightweight carbon fiber support served as both a current collector and flexible support. The prepared CF/Ni₃S₂@PANI electrode exhibited a significantly enhanced specific capacity (715.3 F·g^-1 at 1 A·g^-1) compared with the carbon fiber/Ni₃S₂ electrode (318 F·g^-1 at 1 A·g^-1). More importantly, the assembled FASC device delivered an impressive energy density of 35.7 Wh·kg^-1 at a power density of 850 W·kg^-1. The FASC device benefited from the interconnected flexible microstructure and the stable bond bridges, so that it could be bent into various angles without noticeably impairing its performance. This effective protective strategy may further inspire the design and manufacture of metallic oxide or sulfide electrode with ultrahigh-stability interbond bridges for high-performance flexible supercapacitors.

Keywords: DFT calculations; Electrochemical performance; Electrodeposition; Ni(3)S(2); Supercapacitors.