Tailing copper cobalt sulfide particle-decorated tube-like structure as efficient active material of battery supercapacitor hybrid

Copper cobalt sulfide (CuCo2S4) has received intensive attentions as one of effective battery-type materials of battery supercapacitor hybrids (BSH), because of numerous redox states and large conductivity. Morphology has been widely reported to play important roles on energy storage ability. Tube-like structure is beneficial for providing large surface area at inner/outer surface, and efficient charge transfer paths in one-dimensional di-rections. In this study, the CuCo2S4 particle-decorated tube-like structure is firstly designed on nickel foam via the hydrothermal process at different temperatures. The effects on morphology, composition and electrochemical performance are examined. The CuCo2S4 synthesized at 160 degrees C shows the most uniform rod size and regularly distributed particles on surface. The highest specific capacitance (CF) of 831.7 F/g corresponding to the capacity of 115.6 mAh/g is achieved for the optimal CuCo2S4 electrode, due to the largest electrochemical surface area with multiple active sites. A BSH is fabricated by using the CuCo2S4 positive electrode and the activated carbon negative electrode. A wide potential window of 1.5 V and the maximum energy density of 32.1 Wh/kg at power density of 1.1 kW/kg are achieved. The CF retention of 78.8% and Coulombic efficiency of 95.5% are also attained after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles for the BSH.