Ultrathin MoSe2 nanosheets decorated on carbon aerogel microspheres for high-capacity supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract Two-dimensional layered molybdenum selenide nanosheets have been a promising electrode material for electrochemical energy storage because of their high theoretical capacitance. However, the intrinsic low electrical conductivity and inferior structural stability impede its real application. Herein, MoSe2 nanosheets are incorporated into carbon aerogel microspheres (MoSe2 NSs/CRF) via a facile solvent-thermal method. The specific surface area and electric conductivity of the MoSe2 NSs/CRF electrode were increased simultaneously because of its incorporation with porous carbon aerogel microspheres. As a result, the MoSe2 NSs/CRF electrode exhibits an excellent specific capacitance of 498F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1, which is 3 times higher than that (136F g−1) of the pristine MoSe2 nanosheets. With a 5-fold increase to 5 A g−1, it still retains 278F g-1and high cycling stability of 127.2% of the initial retention after 2500 cycles at 100 mV s−1. Moreover, we fabricated a symmetric supercapacitor (SC) using a composite composed of MoSe2 NSs/CRF. The symmetric supercapacitor showed capacitance of 124F g−1 with an energy density of 8.5 W h Kg−1 at a power density of 264.8 W Kg−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1. The superior electrochemical performances demonstrating that the MoSe2 NSs/CRF has potential as an electrode material for energy storage application in high-performance supercapacitor fields.