Hydrothermal preparation of MoS2 nanoflake arrays on Cu foil with enhanced supercapacitive property

- Oriented MoS2 nanoflake arrays are prepared on a Cu foil by hydrothermal method.
- The growth process and mechanism of MoS2 nanoflake arrays are investigated in detail.
- The capacity retention of MoS2 nanoflake arrays is 90% after 5000 cycles.
- The specific capacitance of MoS2 nanoflake arrays is up to 420 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1.

Hexagonal MoS2 nanoflake arrays (h-MNFs) have been synthesized directly via hydrothermal route with Cu foil as substrate, (NH4)6Mo7O24·4H2O as the molybdenum source, CN2H4S as the sulfur source and reductant, and (CH3)2CHOH as the dispersant. The micro morphology and crystallinity of MNFs are analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman microscopy (RM). The morphological change and growth process of MNFs are investigated, basing on the samples at different hydrothermal reaction times. Moreover, the supercapacitive properties of MNFs have been examined. It is found that MNFs has a good cycling invertibility (93%) and stability (90%) after 5000 cycles, a relatively high specific capacitance (420 F g−1), a low charge transport resistance (1.8 Ω) and available energy densities ranging from 21 to 17 W h kg−1 with corresponding practical power densities ranging from 150 to 3000 W kg−1.

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