Solvothermal Synthesis of Three-Dimensional Hierarchical CuS Microspheres from a Cu-Based Ionic Liquid Precursor for High-Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitors

It is meaningful to exploit copper sulfide materials with desired structure as well as potential application due to their cheapness and low toxicity. A low-temperature and facile solvothermal method for preparing three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical covellite (CuS) microspheres from an ionic liquid precursor [Bmim]2Cu2Cl6 (Bmim = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) is reported. The formation of CuS nanostructures was achieved by decomposition of intermediate complex Cu­(Tu)3Cl (thiourea = Tu), which produced CuS microspheres with diameters of 2.5–4 μm assembled by nanosheets with thicknesses of 10–15 nm. The ionic liquid, as an “all-in-one” medium, played a key role for the fabrication and self-assembly of CuS nanosheets. The alkylimidazolium rings ([Bmim]+) were found to adsorb onto the (001) facets of CuS crystals, which inhibited the crystal growth along the [001] direction, while the alkyl chain had influence on the assembly of CuS nanosheets. The CuS microspheres showed enhanced electrochemical performance and high stability for the application in supercapacitors due to intriguing structural design and large specific surface area. When this well-defined CuS electrode was assembled into an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) with an activated carbon (AC) electrode, the CuS//AC-ASC demonstrated good cycle performance (∼88% capacitance after 4000 cycles) and high energy density (15.06 W h kg–1 at a power density of 392.9 W kg–1). This work provides new insights into the use of copper sulfide electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors and other electrochemical devices.