Issue 39, 2023

Morphology-dependent enhancement of the electrochemical performance of CNF-guided tunable VS4 heterostructures for symmetric supercapacitors

Abstract

Alteration in the morphology of layered materials to improve storage capacity for electrical energy storage (EES) systems, including supercapacitors (SCs), provides enormous opportunities to impart unique structural features and tunable electrochemical properties. Herein, we prepared VS4@CNF heterostructures via a solvothermal process where in situ growth of VS4 (vanadium tetrasulfide) occurred at the CNF (carbon nanofiber) surface. Variation in the relative weight percentage of CNF to VS4 (as VS4@CNFx/2x/3x) affected the morphology of the grown VS4 from nanosheets to micro-flower. The as-synthesized VS4@CNFs composite was investigated as the active electrode material for SCs. Growth of layered VS4 at the CNF surface added advantages to the resulting materials by improving the conductivity as well as the charge acceptor sites during the SC cycling process. A concomitant hybrid morphology VS4@CNF2x electrode demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance, with a specific capacitance of 840 F gāˆ’1 at 1 A gāˆ’1 over a wide voltage range from āˆ’1.4 to 0.2 V, which outperforms pristine VS4. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed the proximity of VS4 on CNF allowed Vā€“C bond formation, which resulted in an enhancement of the electronic states near the Fermi level compared to pure VS4. Therefore, the improved capacitance for the VS4@CNF heterostructure is due to the contribution of pseudocapacitance from the CNF, and benefits from the altered VS4 morphology over CNF, which may facilitate electrolyte accessibility. The observed high charge storage capacity and the cycling reversibility with 86% capacity retention after 5000 cycles of the VS4@CNF2x symmetric device is credited to the robustness of the layered VS4@CNF composite material. This study highlights the rational design of 2D materials@1D nanomaterials to provide better interfacial interaction and assist in the self-assembled hierarchical growth of hybrid materials, to satisfy the ever-growing needs in a wide arena of applications.

Graphical abstract: Morphology-dependent enhancement of the electrochemical performance of CNF-guided tunable VS4 heterostructures for symmetric supercapacitors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Jul 2023
Accepted
06 Sep 2023
First published
22 Sep 2023

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 21263-21271

Morphology-dependent enhancement of the electrochemical performance of CNF-guided tunable VS4 heterostructures for symmetric supercapacitors

S. Zafar, A. Thomas, S. N. Mahapatra, N. Karmodak, H. S. Arora and B. Lochab, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 21263 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA04138G

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