Neoteric hollow tubular MnS/Co3S4 hybrids as high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors

Abstract

Transitional metal chalcogenides with remarkable electrochemical performance are recently attracted growing interest as a novel type of material in the field of energy storage. Herein, neoteric hollow nanoscale tubular x-MnS/Co3S4 (x = 25, 50, 100, 200, 400) hybrids are achieved by two steps of ion exchange methods applying self-made cobalt chloride carbonate hydroxide (Co(CO3)0.35Cl0.20(OH)1.10) as precursor, sodium sulfide nonahydrate as a sulfur resource for anion exchange, and anhydrous manganese chloride as a manganese resource for cation exchange. When used in supercapacitors for the first time, the 200-MnS/Co3S4 sample manifests excellent electrochemical performance with high specific capacitance (627 Fg−1 at 1 A g − 1), exceptional rate capability (73.5% capacity retention from 1 to 50 A g − 1), and brilliant cycling stability (93.1% of initial capacity retention for 2000 cycles at 10 A g − 1). These results above indicate the great potential of hollow MnS/Co3S4 nano-tubes in the development of high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors.