An efficient hybrid supercapacitor based on Zn–Mn–Ni–S@NiSe core–shell architectures

Abstract

To design a supercapacitor with fascinating properties, the development and fabrication of innovative electrode materials with interesting architectures are highly desirable. In this work, hierarchical Zn–Mn–Ni–S@NiSe assembled from Zn–Mn–Ni–S nanowires and NiSe nanosheets has been grown on nickel foam via a consecutive hydrothermal reaction and electrodeposition route for supercapacitors. Owing to the tight contact between Zn–Mn–Ni–S and NiSe, Zn–Mn–Ni–S@NiSe offers an efficient nanoporous network, appropriate channels, and desirable conductivity for the rapid transfer of electrons as well as ions for the reversible reaction. In a three-electrode configuration, the optimized Zn–Mn–Ni–S@NiSe electrode shows higher capacity (358 mA h g⁻¹), rate performance (71.8% up to 24 A g⁻¹), and cyclability (90.1% capacity retention after 10 000 cycles) than the optimized Zn–Mn–Ni–S electrode (287 mA h g⁻¹ at 2 A g⁻¹ and 64.8% up to 24 A g⁻¹). Besides, a promising hybrid supercapacitor device using optimized Zn–Mn–Ni–S@NiSe and activated carbon demonstrates a desirable energy density (ED) of 59.6 W h/kg at 805.4 W kg⁻¹ and considerable cyclability of 86.6% after 10 000 cycles. Thus, this research proposes a favorable route for developing new electrodes for energy storage systems.