Issue 4, 2019

Bio-inspired nano-engineering of an ultrahigh loading 3D hierarchical Ni@NiCo2S4/Ni3S2 electrode for high energy density supercapacitors

Abstract

Energy density has become a critical barrier in supercapacitor engineering and improvement of the electrode-loading is urgently demanded. However, there is conflict between the high loading and good electrochemical properties of supercapacitors. Herein, ultrahigh loading (10.33 mg·cm−2) 3D hierarchical NiCo2S4/Ni3S2 on Ni foam with outstanding performance is obtained via bio-inspired nano-engineering, which contains compact nanowire arrays catching urchin-like micro-particles. Using this high-loading material as a binder-free electrode achieves excellent areal capacitances with 16.90 F·cm−2 at 10.33 mA·cm−2 and 1.17 F·cm−2 at 5.17 mA·cm−2 in a three-electrode system and asymmetric supercapacitor device, respectively. The device also exhibits a high energy density of 4.69 W h m−2 (power density of 10.33 W·m−2) and an outstanding stability of 91.4% after 8000 cycles (20.66 mA·cm−2). Its excellent performance is attributed to the well-designed structure and composition: (i) a large contact area with the electrolyte raises the utilization efficiency of the active material, therefore guaranteeing the high capacitance of the active materials; (ii) the high electronic conductivity network constructed through NiCo2S4 and the short diffusion length boost its rate performance; (iii) the reserved space in the hierarchical structure could hold the volume change and enhance the cycling performance of the electrode in the charge/discharge cycles. Thus, this work not only provides a method for the construction of a high-loading and high-performance electrode for asymmetric supercapacitors, but could also shed light on the design of compact nano-materials for other energy storage systems.

Graphical abstract: Bio-inspired nano-engineering of an ultrahigh loading 3D hierarchical Ni@NiCo2S4/Ni3S2 electrode for high energy density supercapacitors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Dec 2018
Accepted
20 Dec 2018
First published
20 Dec 2018

Nanoscale, 2019,11, 1728-1736

Bio-inspired nano-engineering of an ultrahigh loading 3D hierarchical Ni@NiCo2S4/Ni3S2 electrode for high energy density supercapacitors

T. Tang, S. Cui, W. Chen, H. Hou and L. Mi, Nanoscale, 2019, 11, 1728 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR09754B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements