Perspective on ultrathin layered Ni-doped MoS2 hybrid nanostructures for the enhancement of electrochemical properties in supercapacitors

Over the last two decades, extensive study has been done on two-dimensional Molybdenum Sulphide (MoS2) due to its outstanding features in energy storage applications. Although MoS2 has a lot of active sulphur edges, the presence of inactive surfaces leads to limit conductivity and efficiency. Hence, in this article, we aimed to promote the additional active sites by doping various weight percentages (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%) of Nickel (Ni) into the MoS2 matrix by simple hydrothermal technique, and their doping effects were investigated with the help of Physio-chemical analyses. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, Raman, and chemical composition (XPS) analyses were used to confirm the Ni incorporation in MoS2 nanosheets. Microscopic investigations demonstrated that Ni-doped MoS2 nanosheets were vertically aligned with enhanced interlayer spacing. Cyclic voltammetry, Galvanostatic charge–discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy investigations were used to characterize the electrochemical characteristics. The 6% Ni-doped MoS2 electrode material showed better CSP of 528.7 F/g @ 1 A/g and excellent electrochemical stability (85% of capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 5 A/g) compared to other electrode materials. Furthermore, the solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor was assembled using Ni-doped MoS2 and graphite as anode and cathode materials and analysed the electrochemical properties in the two-electrode system. To determine the impact of the Ni-atom on the MoS2 surface, first-principles computations were performed. Further, it was examined for electronic band structure, the projected density of states (PDOS) and Bader charge transfer analyses.