Supercapacitive performance of highly dispersed bismuth sulfide nanoparticles in organic matrix: The role of sulphur source

Ultra-fine, highly dispersed bismuth sulfide nanoparticles have been synthesized, using two different sulphur sources (sodium sulfide and thiourea) by applying a wet chemical method. The bismuth sulfide (BST) nanoparticles synthesized using thiourea, as a sulphur source, displayed higher crystallinity than the bismuth sulfide (BSS) produced with sodium sulfide. Both the materials have been tested as an electrode material for supercapacitor applications via electrochemical studies (cyclic-voltammetry and galvanometric charge-discharge techniques) in presence of alkaline electrolyte. The BSS and BST based electrodes exhibited maximum specific capacitance values of 250 F.g−1 and 491 F.g−1, respectively, at the current density of 0.5 A.g−1. Both the materials achieved the energy density values >40 Wh.kg−1 at the current density of 0.5 A.g−1. The present work demonstrates a simple synthesis method for the fabrication of highly dispersed organic molecule stabilized bismuth sulfide nanoparticles for supercapacitor application.