Formation of 1D hierarchical structures composed of Ni3S2 nanosheets on CNTs backbone for supercapacitors and photocatalytic H2 production

• Main Authors: Zhu, Ting, Wu, Hao Bin, Wang, Yabo, Xu, Rong, Lou, David Xiong Wen
• Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96789; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/10370
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

One-dimensional (1D) hierarchical structures composed of Ni3S2 nanosheets grown on carbon nanotube (CNT) backbone (denoted as CNT@Ni3S2) are fabricated by a rational multi-step transformation route. The first step involves coating the CNT backbone with a layer of silica to form CNT@SiO2, which serves as the substrate for the growth of nickel silicate (NiSilicate) nanosheets in the second step to form CNT@SiO2@NiSilicate core-double shell 1D structures. Finally the as-formed CNT@SiO2@NiSilicate 1D structures are converted into CNT-supported Ni3S2 nanosheets via hydrothermal treatment in the presence of Na2S. Simultaneously the intermediate silica layer is eliminated during the hydrothermal treatment, leading to the formation of CNT@Ni3S2 nanostructures. Because of the unique hybrid nano-architecture, the as-prepared 1D hierarchical structure is shown to exhibit excellent performance in both supercapacitors and photocatalytic H2 production.