Copper sulfide nanoparticles with potential bifunctional properties: supercapacitor and photocatalysis

Abstract

Three kinds of multifunctional hexagonal copper sulfide crystals were successfully synthesized by adjusting the preparation process in this work. The supercapacitor performance of product-based electrodes was studied by CV, GCD and EIS measurements, respectively, from which the product synthesized at 140° was proved to have the most brilliant cycle stability and notable energy density. The impact of pH on photocatalytic decomposition of MO was investigated and a reasonable photocatalytic degradation mechanism was proposed, which suggested that it is at pH 5 that the surface state of the catalyst is most conducive to the photocatalytic reaction. Furthermore, the result of a 5 cycle test at pH 5 indicated that the degradation rate still remained 80.9%. All the experimental results fully indicated that the synthesized CuS nanostructure possessed potential electrical and optical application value.