1 Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 Canada.
2 Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, 9211 - 116 Street NW., Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9 Canada.
3 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 Canada.

Abstract: An effective technique for improving electrochemical efficiency is to rationally design hierarchical nanostructures that completely optimize the advantages of single components and establish an interfacial effect between structures. In this study, core-shell NiMoO₄@Ni₉S₈/MoS₂ hetero-structured nanorods are prepared via a facile hydrothermal process followed by a direct sulfurization. The resulting hierarchical architecture with outer Ni₉S₈/MoS₂ nanoflakes shell on the inner NiMoO₄ core offers plentiful active sites and ample charge transfer pathways in continuous heterointerfaces. Ascribing to the porous core-shell configuration and synergistic effect of bimetal sulfides, the obtained NiMoO₄@Ni₉S₈/MoS₂ as electrode material presents an unsurpassed specific capacity of 373.4 F g^-1 at 10 A g^-1 and remarkable cycling performance in the 6 M KOH electrolyte. This work delivers a rational method for designing highly efficient electrodes for supercapacitors, enlightening the road of exploring low-cost materials in the energy storage domain.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1557/s43578-021-00318-y.