Issue 17, 2019

Nanotube-assembled pine-needle-like CuS as an effective energy booster for sodium-ion storage

Abstract

Transition metal sulfides have emerged as attractive anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their favorable properties and abundant resources. However, very few metal sulfides are available now that fulfill all criteria regarding specific capacity, rate performance and long-term cyclability for commercial applications. Herein, we report a novel pine-needle-like CuS (PNL-CuS) self-assembled from hollow nanotubes together with its sodium storage properties between 3.0 and 0.3 V. Such a hierarchical architecture benefits the infiltration of the electrolyte, providing more active sites for Na+ storage and facilitating fast charge transfer, as reflected by the high reversible capacity (522 mA h g−1 at 0.1 A g−1), superior rate performance (317 mA h g−1 at 20 A g−1) and outstanding long-term cycle stability (1000 cycles without obvious fading at 5 A g−1) of the resulting materials. Moreover, ex situ HRTEM and ex situ XPS characterization reveal the phase transitions during Na+ uptake. The experimental results are further supported by density functional theory calculations, showing a preferential Na+ transfer pathway and the intrinsic metallic behavior of covellite CuS upon Na+ absorption. The exceptional performance together with a highly reversible conversion reaction indicates that CuS has great potential for large-scale energy storage.

Graphical abstract: Nanotube-assembled pine-needle-like CuS as an effective energy booster for sodium-ion storage

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Dec 2018
Accepted
25 Mar 2019
First published
27 Mar 2019

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019,7, 10619-10628

Nanotube-assembled pine-needle-like CuS as an effective energy booster for sodium-ion storage

D. Yu, M. Li, T. Yu, C. Wang, Y. Zeng, X. Hu, G. Chen, G. Yang and F. Du, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019, 7, 10619 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA12474D

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