Investigations and improvement of Nickel Sulfide modified electrode material from single source precursor for energy storage application
Abstract High-performance energy storage electrode materials are emerging demand in near future for the construction of supercapacitor with high energy and power densities. Herein, Nickel (II) Diethyldithiocarbamate was used as single source precursor for Nickel Sulfide (Ni9S8) two dimensional (2D) nanosheets preparation and hexadecylamine as shape directing agent via simple solvothermal method. The orthorhombic structure of Ni9S8 nanosheets was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images revealed that as-prepared Ni9S8 nanoparticles possess sheet-like morphology. Besides, the thermal stability of Ni(DTC)2 complex was studied by Thermo-gravimetric/Derivative thermo gravimetric(TG/DTG) with Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis. The electrochemical properties of Ni9S8 nanosheets was studied using galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) techniques. From the charge-discharge study of Ni9S8 nanosheets, a high specific capacitance of 281 Fg− 1 was obtained at a current density of 1 Ag− 1, and up to 82 % retentivity was achieved after 5000 cycles. Thus, the prepared Ni9S8 nanosheets could be one of the attractive potential active electrode materials for the application of supercapacitor.