General Formation of MS (M = Ni, Cu, Mn) Box‐in‐Box Hollow Structures with Enhanced Pseudocapacitive Properties

Abstract

Complex hollow structures of metal sulfides could be promising materials for energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and lithium‐ion batteries. However, it is still a great challenge to fabricate well‐defined metal sulfides hollow structures with multi‐shells, hierarchical architectures, and non‐spherical shape. In this work, a template‐engaged strategy is developed to synthesize hierarchical NiS box‐in‐box hollow structures with double‐shells. The NiS box‐in‐box hollow structures constructed by ultrathin nanosheets are evaluated as electrode materials for supercapacitors. As expected, the NiS box‐in‐box hollow structures exhibit excellent rate performance and impressive cycling stability due to their unique nano‐architecture. More importantly, the synthetic method can be easily extended to synthesize other transition metal sulfides box‐in‐box hollow structures. For example, we have also successfully synthesized similar CuS and MnS box‐in‐box hollow structures. The present work makes a significant contribution to the design and synthesis of transition metal sulfides hollow structures with non‐spherical shape and complex architecture, as well as their potential applications in electrochemical energy storage.