3D hierarchical carbon nanofibers/TiO2@MoS2 core-shell heterostructures by electrospinning, hydrothermal and in-situ growth for flexible electrode materials

Abstract

Design and synthesis of unique core-shell heterostructures for flexible electrode materials have recently attracted intensive attention. In this work, 3D flexible carbon nanofibers (CNFs)/TiO2@MoS2 core-shell hierarchical nanostructures were prepared on the surface of CNFs by combining electrospinning, hydrothermal method and in situ growth. We investigated the behavior of CNFs/TiO2@MoS2 as electrode material, which showed desirable electrochemical performance in terms of ultrahigh specific capacitance and long-term stability. The CNFs/TiO2@MoS2 exhibited ultrahigh specific capacitance (510.4 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) superior to CNFs/TiO2 (53.8 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) and prominent rate capability at high scan rates. Specifically, the capacitance retention of CNFs/TiO2@MoS2 remained about 95.7% even after 3000 cycles at 3.5 A g−1, which indicates considerable cycling stability. Hence, this work presents a novel strategy for the construction of cost-effective, flexible and high-performance 3D electrode materials, and confers in-depth understanding of nanocomposites with relatively light quality. The fabricated nanocomposite can have attractive application prospects in energy storage systems and can even be extended to wearable and portable energy storage equipment. Keywords: Electrospinning, Carbon nanofibers, TiO2, MoS2, Electrode materials