Novel VS4 Nanorods Synthesized by a Facile Solvothermal Method for High Performance Electrochemical Capacitor Electrode

Transiontion-metal chalcogenides (TMCs) have attracted increasing attention in electrochemical energy storage over recent years. As an important member of the TMC family, VS4 has many intriguing chemical and physical properties benefited from the peculiar crystallographic structure. Herein, novel VS4 nanorods with a diameter of 30–100 nm were successfully synthesized by a facile solvothermal method, which showed a tremendous specific capacitance of 617 F/g at 0.4 A/g in a solution of 1 M LiNO3 using a three-electrode system. The obtained energy density was as high as 55 Wh/kg, which was much higher than those of many other symmetrical supercapacitors. Most remarkably, the capacity retention of 87.5% was achieved even after 1500 cycles at a current density of 3 A/g. The results infer that the material has the potential to be used as a high performance supercapacitor electrode.