Architectural Design of Electrode Material for Supercapacitor Application Based on a MoS2/CeO2 Heterostructure Synthesized by Facile Hydrothermal Technique

Abstract

The recent work is based on synthesis of MoS2/CeO2 heterostructure (2D/3D) as electrode material to display its outstanding supercapacitive performance. Herein, we present a two-step facile hydrothermal technique to produce MoS2/CeO2 heterostructure. The characterization tools such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and UV-Vis spectroscopy evidently confirm the co-existence of MoS2 and CeO2, while the Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) images confirms the unique microstructures of MoS2/CeO2 heterostructure. The objective is to study the electrochemical properties of MoS2/CeO2 heterostructure with different electrolytes viz. Na2SO4 (neutral), H2SO4 (acidic) and NaOH (basic). Remarkably, MoS2/CeO2 heterostructure yield the highest electrical double layer capacitance of 166.6 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 in an aqueous 1 M NaOH basic electrolyte. The role of ions in NaOH as an electrolyte are explain on the basis of ionic conductivity and mobility to validate the maximum resultant specific capacitance. The ionic conductivity and mobility of all the electrolytes are well studied. Furthermore, the architectural design of 3D interconnected network of a 3D CeO2 nanocubes with 2D MoS2 nanosheets assists the electrochemical properties of heterostructure.