Supercapacitive properties of hydrothermally synthesized sphere like MoS2 nanostructures

•MoS2 nanostructures were synthesized by hydrothermal method.•Randomly stacked MoS2 was obtained.•FE-SEM studies show the sphere like morphology of MoS2.•Specific capacitance of 92.85 F/g was achieved using charge–discharge analysis.•MoS2 electrode shows capacitance retention of about 93.8% after 1000 cycles.

In this communication, we have investigated the supercapacitive behaviour of MoS2 nanostructures prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal approach using ammonium heptamolybdate and thiourea as starting materials. The X-ray diffraction study revealed the formation of randomly stacked layers of MoS2. The field-emission scanning electron microscope studies suggested the formation of sphere like MoS2 nanostructures and a plausible mechanism for the formation of the obtained structure is discussed. The cyclic voltammetry study shows the typical rectangular shaped curves with a specific capacitance of 106 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/s. Galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements suggested the maximum specific capacitance of about 92.85 F/g at discharge current density of 0.5 mA/cm2. Cyclic stability tests revealed the capacitance retention of about 93.8% after 1000 cycles suggesting a good cyclic capacity of the prepared MoS2. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopic results such as Nyquist and Bode phase angle plots suggested that the hydrothermally synthesized MoS2 nanostructures will be a suitable candidate for electrochemical supercapacitor applications.

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