Exfoliated WSe ₂ Nanosheets-Reinforced Polyaniline (PANI) Matrix for High-Performance Supercapacitor and Zinc-Ion Battery Devices

The pressing necessity for sustainable energy solutions has greatly intensified the research of inventive, robust, and environmentally friendly energy storage systems. Consequently, the pursuit of nanostructures capable of efficiently delivering both power density and energy density remains an extensive challenge in the advancement of future energy storage devices. To address this, we report a hybrid framework of exfoliated WSe2 nanosheets-reinforced polyaniline composites exhibiting dual functionality as a high-performance supercapacitor and cathode material for zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). The WSe2-based polyaniline hybrid has a specific capacitance of 463.65 F g–1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s–1 for a symmetrical coin cell supercapacitor and a specific capacity of 164.58 mAh g–1 at 0.75 A g–1 for the cathode material in rechargeable ZIBs. The fabricated devices exhibit prolonged stability with a capacitance retention of 83.9% over a long 10,000 cycles for supercapacitor device and a capacity retention of 78% over 1000 cycles for ZIB. The composite structure offers pathways toward sustainable energy research, exhibiting significant practicality and offering a versatile energy storage solution with enhanced electrochemical performance.