Ultrathin MoSe2 nanosheets decorated on carbon aerogel microspheres for high-capacity supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

A new MoSe 2 /CRF electrode was successfully constructed, which possessed enhanced specific capacitance and high cycling stability via the synergistic effect of MoSe 2 nanosheets and carbon aerogel microspheres. • MoSe 2 nanosheets and carbon aerogel microspheres hybrid via solvent-thermal method was prepared. • MoSe 2 NSs/CRF electrode exhibits an excellent specific capacitance and a high cycling stability. • Porous carbon aerogel microspheres restrict the aggregation of MoSe 2 nanosheets. • MoSe 2 NSs/CRF has potential as an electrode material in supercapacitor fields. Two-dimensional layered molybdenum selenide nanosheets have been a promising electrode material for electrochemical energy storage because of their high theoretical capacitance. However, the intrinsic low electrical conductivity and inferior structural stability impede its real application. Herein, MoSe 2 nanosheets are incorporated into carbon aerogel microspheres (MoSe 2 NSs/CRF) via a facile solvent-thermal method. The specific surface area and electric conductivity of the MoSe 2 NSs/CRF electrode were increased simultaneously because of its incorporation with porous carbon aerogel microspheres. As a result, the MoSe 2 NSs/CRF electrode exhibits an excellent specific capacitance of 498F g −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 , which is 3 times higher than that (136F g −1 ) of the pristine MoSe 2 nanosheets. With a 5-fold increase to 5 A g −1 , it still retains 278F g -1 and high cycling stability of 127.2% of the initial retention after 2500 cycles at 100 mV s −1 . Moreover, we fabricated a symmetric supercapacitor (SC) using a composite composed of MoSe 2 NSs/CRF. The symmetric supercapacitor showed capacitance of 124F g −1 with an energy density of 8.5 W h Kg −1 at a power density of 264.8 W Kg −1 at a current density of 1 A g −1 . The superior electrochemical performances demonstrating that the MoSe 2 NSs/CRF has potential as an electrode material for energy storage application in high-performance supercapacitor fields.