Electrodeposited Binder-free Mn-Co-S Nanosheets toward High Specific-Energy Aqueous Asymmetric Supercapacitors

Abstract

A simple single-step electrodeposition technique was followed for the three-dimensional (3D)-interconnected binary metallic manganese-cobalt sulfide nanosheets on nickel foam (MnCoS@NF). The architecture and chemical composition of the as-synthesized binder-free electrodes were analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The MnCoS@NF achieves exceptionally high specific capacitance (1952.8 F g–1 at 2 A g–1) along with high cycle stability in a three-electrode cell measurement. Furthermore, an aqueous asymmetric supercapacitor (AAS) device was designed using electrodeposited MnCoS@NF in combination with reduced graphene oxide-coated NF (rGO@NF) as a positrode and negatrode, respectively. This device was able to provide very high specific energy (105.1 W h kg–1) at a specific power (7.25 kW kg–1) along with high cyclic stability (93.9% of specific capacitance retained after 3000 consecutive GCD cycles), which demonstrates its excellent candidature in supercapacitor applications.