Hierarchical mesoporous Co^sub 3^O^sub 4^/C@MoS^sub 2^ core–shell structured materials for electrochemical energy storage with high supercapacitive performance

Hierarchical mesoporous Co3O4/C@MoS2 core-shell structured materials are synthesized via a two-step calcination and a solvothermal method using cobalt metal-organic frameworks (cobalt-MOFs, ZIF-67) and (NH4)2MoS4 as the precursors of Co3O4/C and MoS2, respectively, which is a new class of core-shell materials as supercapacitor electrode materials. The obtained Co3O4/C@MoS2 exhibits high specific capacitance (1076 F g-1 at 1 A g-1), rate capability (76.9% capacitance retention at 10 A g-1) and cyclic stability (64.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 10 A g-1). Moreover, the content of MoS2 greatly influences the electrochemical performances of the obtained core-shell materials. The results demonstrate that the as-synthesized ZIF-67 can be used as a promising candidate for designing Co3O4 based core-shell materials used in supercapacitors.