Morphological structural and energy storage based study of MoS₂/ZnO nanocomposite

Abstract

Herein, we report hybrid MoS2/ZnO nanostructures through a simplistic one-step hydrothermal method. In preparation of such hybrid nanostructures, the weight % ratio of MoS2 to ZnO was selected as 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. All the samples were characterized through Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-rays diffraction (XRD), Ultra-violet-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) and electrochemical workstation (Potentiostat) for the investigation of morphological, structural, optical and electrochemical properties. Moreover, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Galvanostatic charge discharge (GCD) were carried out. SEM images show the formation of flowerlike structure of MoS2 with random oriented petals where ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were decorated in the vicinity of these petals. XRD confirms the incorporation of ZnO NPs in MoS2 nanostructure and shows no new phase development. UV–vis spectroscopy reveals absorption edge around 210 to 245 nm which is due to the transition of electrons from deep valence band to the conduction band in MoS2 nanostructures. The absorption intensity increases with the increase in concentration of ZnO NPs and shows a red shift in the wavelength. Electrochemical study proved that hybrid nanostructures of MoS2/ZnO with a wt. % ratio 0.3 of MoS2 to ZnO got an optimum capacitance value of 42 Fg−1 with a minimum charge transfer resistance value of 250 ohm. Such kind of properties stemmed from the synergistic effect between MoS2 and ZnO NPs.