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

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·g1at a charge/discharge current density of 1 A·g1and excellent rate capacitance retention of 66.7% at 20 A·g1. The excellent electrochemical properties of NiS/N-CFA nanocomposites make these materials promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2016, Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.