NiCo2S4 Nanotube Decorated on Tea-Waste Derived Porous Carbon: A Dual-Purpose Nanocomposite for High-Performance Flexible Asymmetric Supercapacitor and Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Abstract

Water splitting is one of the cleanest ways to produce H2, considered a reliable, next-generation fuel, and supercapacitors are one of the most efficient energy devices for myriad technologies. Herein, we designed and synthesized NiCo2S4 nanotubes-porous carbon (NCS-PCTW) nanocomposite. Porous carbon was synthesized from abundant and cheap tea leaf waste (i.e., tea leaves obtained after brewing). The performances of NCS-PCTW nanocomposite have been assessed for two applications: (i) as an active cathode material in an all-solid-state flexible asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device and (ii) as an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The asymmetric supercapacitor NCS-PCTW//PCTW device exhibited its high performance, such as a specific capacitance of 188.75 F g-1 at 1 A g-1, a high energy density of 72.4 W h kg-1 at a power density of 863 W kg-1, and a long cyclic stability. NCS-PCTW nanocomposite also demonstrated its excellent efficiency as an electrocatalyst for OER with a low onset potential of 1.48 V, low overpotential of 267 mV at 10 mA cm-2, a Tafel slope of 82.53 mV dec-1, and stability till 20 h at 50 mA cm-2. This work illustrates the great potential of NiCo2S4-porous carbon nanocomposite in clean energy generation and efficient energy storage technologies.