Mechanically exfoliated MoS₂ sheet coupled with conductive polyaniline as a superior supercapacitor electrode...

The development of electrically conductive metal sulfide-based polymer nanocomposites for energy storage materials has been a major focus by researchers to solve the energy crisis. In this study, a simple and facile method was used to construct a nanocomposite by combining a mechanically exfoliated MoS₂ (M-MoS₂) sheet with polyaniline (Pani) using a simple and scalable in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization method. The as-prepared nanocomposite (M-MoS₂-Pani nanocomposite) was characterized further by usual basic spectroscopic techniques, such as X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis. The electrochemical supercapacitive characteristics of the M-MoS₂-Pani nanocomposite was tested in a three-electrode assembly by obtaining cyclic voltammetric (CV) curves and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) measurements. The results were compared with those of a C-MoS₂-Pani nanocomposite that had been synthesized using bulk MoS₂. The M-MoS₂-Pani nanocomposite synthesized using exfoliated MoS₂ exhibited a higher specific capacitance of 510.12Fg^-1 at a current of 1Ag^-1 than the C-MoS₂-Pani nanocomposite (225.15Fg^-1), which was synthesized using bulk C-MoS₂ delivered. The enhanced electrochemical supercapacitive performance was correlated to the synergistic effect and chemical interactions between the Pani and MoS₂, which provide high electrical conductivity and a sufficient empty state for electrode/electrolyte contact.