One-step solvothermal synthesis of different morphologies CuS nanosheets compared as supercapacitor electrode materials

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2015-03, Vol.625, p.158-163
• Main Authors: Huang, Ke-Jing, Zhang, Ji-Zong, Fan, Yun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Copper sulfide nanosheets; Electrode materials; Specific capacitance; Supercapacitor; Surfactant
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.11.137

•CuS nanosheets are synthesized by hydrothermal method assisted with or without surfactants.•Supercapacitor electrode based on CuS nanosheets is fabricated.•Microstructures and electrochemical properties of the electrodes are evaluated.•CuS prepared without additive exhibits high specific capacitance and good cycling stability. Layered-structure materials are quite promising ones for the next generation high-performance electrochemical supercapacitors. In this work, copper sulfide (CuS) with different morphologies are successfully synthesized via a simple one-step solvothermal method. Various hierarchical CuSs are fabricated with or without surfactants (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CuS-CTAB) and sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (CuS-SDBS)) as subsidiaries. The results show the electrochemical performance of CuS prepared without surfactant is superior than that assisted with surfactant. The as-obtained CuS nanosheets have pseudocapacitive characteristic and exhibit a high specific capacitance of 833.3Fg−1 at a current density of 1Ag−1, compared to 378.9Fg−1 for CuS-CTAB and 232.4Fg−1 for CuS-SDBS. In addition, the CuS nanosheets show better cycle property than CuS-CTAB and CuS-SDBS. The better electrochemical characteristics performances are owing to the thin CuS layer, which provides unique architecture facilitating charge transport and electrolyte diffusion.