Novel ternary nanocomposites of MWCNTs/PANI/MoS2: preparation, characterization and enhanced electrochemical capacitance

In this work, nanoflower-like MoS2 grown on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/polyaniline (PANI) nano-stem is synthesized via a facile in situ polymerization and hydrothermal method. Such a novel hierarchical structure commendably promotes the contact of PANI and electrolyte for faradaic energy storage. In the meanwhile, the double-layer capacitance of MoS2 is effectively used. The morphology and chemical composition of the as-prepared samples are characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopies, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The electrochemical performance of the samples is evaluated by cyclic voltammogram and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. It is found that the specific capacitance of the obtained MWCNTs/PANI/MoS2 hybrid is 542.56 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1. Furthermore, the MWCNTs/PANI/MoS2 hybrid also exhibits good rate capability (62.5% capacity retention at 10 A g-1) and excellent cycling stability (73.71% capacitance retention) over 3000 cycles.