Fast and Large Lithium Storage in 3D Porous VN Nanowires–Graphene Composite as a Superior Anode Toward High‐Performance Hybrid Supercapacitors

Abstract

Li‐ion hybrid capacitors (LIHCs), consisting of an energy‐type redox anode and a power‐type double‐layer cathode, are attracting significant attention due to the good combination with the advantages of conventional Li‐ion batteries and supercapacitors. However, most anodes are battery‐like materials with the sluggish kinetics of Li‐ion storage, which seriously restrict the energy storage of LIHCs at the high charge/discharge rates. Herein, vanadium nitride (VN) nanowire is demonstated to have obvious pseudocapacitive characteristic of Li‐ion storage and can get further gains in energy storage through a 3D porous architecture with the assistance of conductive reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The as‐prepared 3D VN–RGO composite exhibits the large Li‐ion storage capacity and fast charge/discharge rate within a wide working widow from 0.01–3 V (vs Li/Li+), which could potentially boost the operating potential and the energy and power densities of LIHCs. By employing such 3D VN–RGO composite and porous carbon nanorods with a high surface area of 3343 m2 g−1 as the anode and cathode, respectively, a novel LIHCs is fabricated with an ultrahigh energy density of 162 Wh kg−1 at 200 W kg−1, which also remains 64 Wh kg−1 even at a high power density of 10 kW kg−1.