Preparation of a MoS2/carbon nanotube nanocomposite by hydrothermal method for supercapacitor

Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) grown on carbon nanotube (CNT@MoS2) with core-shell structure were prepared via hydrothermal method for use as electrode materials in supercapacitors. In this study, we report the effects of carbon nanotube of different ratio on the electrochemical performances of MoS2/CNT nanocomposites. MoO3 prepared from ammonium molybdate tetrahydrateis mixed with CNT and L-cysteine as precursors for MoS2/CNT synthesis. The flower-like MoS2 was successfully synthesized to grow on carbon nanotubes by hydrothermal method. The results of XRD and Raman spectrum analysis show that the experimental product is hexagonal 2H-MoS2. The synthesized MoS2 shows nanosheet structure of about 3 nm thickness and uniformly grown on the wall of carbon nanotube from SEM images. Cyclic voltammetry test on the MoS2/CNT electrode depicts purely electrostatic polarization in the voltage range of 0 to 0.6 V with the calculated areal specific capacitance of 87 F/g for the composite with 50 wt% of CNT at a scan rate of 10 mV/s.