Construction of core@shell NiCo2S4@conductive polythiophene nanocone arrays on carbon cloth for high-performance supercapacitors

In recent years, flexible and portable supercapacitor devices have become a focus of attention in the field of energy storage. However, challenges in the selection and preparation of appropriate electrode materials remain. The hierarchical constructing of conducting polymer@transition metal sulfide composites on the flexible carbon cloth substrate is an effective strategy to achieve high-performance supercapacitors. In here, highly conductive polythiophene (Pth) nanocone arrays are hierarchically constructed on the NiCo 2 S 4 (NCS) coated carbon fiber cloth (CC). The modification of NCS electrode surface with conductive polythiophene (Pth) layer (about 6.21 S/cm) is based on a facile dip-coating process. This facile process allows the formation a conductive polythiophene (Pth) layer on the NCS nanoneedles by protecting porous NCS morphology. Pth shell not only increases the conductivity of NCS electrode but also alleviates agglomeration during charge-discharge process. The synergistic effect between NCS and Pth improves the capacitive characteristics of electrode. Compared to NCS@CC and Pth@CC electrodes, NCS@Pth(0.3)@CC composite electrode exhibits a superior specific capacitance (1632.8 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 of current density) and an outstanding retention stability (90.1 % after 5000 cycles). These impressive results emphasize the potential of the newly developed hybrid structure as a high-performance electrode material for electrochemical devices. • Core-shell structured NCS@conductive polythiophene nanocones were synthesized. • Electrode modification was achieved a simple dip-coating technique. • NCS electrodes were coated with conductive polythiophene with various compositions. • The composite electrode exhibited specific capacitance of 1632 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 . • The composite electrode showed a retention 90.1 % over 5000 cycles.