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Immobilization of NiS nanoparticles on N-doped carbon fiber aerogels as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors

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Abstract

NiS nanoparticles (NPs) with excellent electrochemical capacitance have attracted considerable attention as cost-effective energy-storage materials for supercapacitors in recent years. Preventing the aggregation and increasing the conductivity of NiS NPs are key to fully realizing their excellent electrochemical properties. In this work, NiS/N-doped carbon fiber aerogel (N-CFA) nanocomposites were obtained easily through the combination of polymerization, carbonization, and a one-step solvothermal reaction. N-CFA derived from polydopamine (PDA)-coated cotton wool was used as a template for the construction of hierarchical NiS/N-CFA nanocomposites, in which NiS NPs are uniformly immobilized on the surface of N-CFA. In this nanostructured system, N-CFA containing abundant nanofibers not only provides active regions for the growth of NiS NPs to prevent their aggregation, but also offers short pathways for the transport of electrons and ions. The electrochemical properties of the obtained NiS/N-CFA nanocomposites were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge, and alternating current impedance measurements. The optimized NiS/N-CFA nanocomposite exhibits a high specific capacitance of 1,612.5 F·g‒1 at a charge/discharge current density of 1 A·g‒1 and excellent rate capacitance retention of 66.7% at 20 A·g‒1. The excellent electrochemical properties of NiS/N-CFA nanocomposites make these materials promising electrode materials for supercapacitors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Youfang Zhang, Lizeng Zuo, Longsheng Zhang, Jiajie Yan, Hengyi Lu & Tianxi Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Wei Fan & Tianxi Liu

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  1. Youfang Zhang
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  2. Lizeng Zuo
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  3. Longsheng Zhang
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  4. Jiajie Yan
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  5. Hengyi Lu
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  6. Wei Fan
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  7. Tianxi Liu
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Correspondence to Wei Fan or Tianxi Liu.

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Zhang, Y., Zuo, L., Zhang, L. et al. Immobilization of NiS nanoparticles on N-doped carbon fiber aerogels as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors. Nano Res. 9, 2747–2759 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1163-1

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