Highly stable mesoporous CeO2/CeS2 nanocomposite as electrode material with improved supercapacitor electrochemical performance

The performance of a pseudocapacitor electrode relies largely on the conductivity, cyclic stability, specific surface area and the mesoporosity of the nanomaterials. The CeO2 is highly stable oxide but poor conductor, on the other hand, CeS2 is highly conductive but its stability is questionable. Herein, we report the synthesis of CeO2/CeS2 nanocomposite, and exploit the properties of both the constituent materials and demonstrates that CeO2/CeS2 nanocomposite electrode exhibits an improved capacitance and energy density than CeO2 nano material. It encompasses large number of pores with a mean size of similar to 17 nm. The mesoporous nature of the CeO2/CeS2 nanocomposite electrode increases its activity, rapid diffusion and transportation of ions and facilitates surface-dependent reversible redox reactions. The nanocomposite electrode demonstrates high stability and its specific capacitance increases almost linearly up to 1000 cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycles. At a current density of 1 A/g it achieves a specific capacitance of 420 F/g. These findings evidently suggest the practical use of CeO2/CeS2 nanocomposite as electrode material for future supercapacitors.