Formation of 1D hierarchical structures composed of Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanosheets on CNTs backbone for supercapacitors and photocatalytic H{sub 2} production Zhu, Ting; Wu, Hao Bin; Wang, Yabo; Xu, Rong; Lou, Xiong Wen [David; School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 70 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637457 (Singapore)] 25 ENERGY STORAGE; 08 HYDROGEN; HYDROGEN PRODUCTION; CARBON; NANOTUBES; CAPACITORS; SHEETS; NICKEL SULFIDES; ELECTRON MICROSCOPY; ELECTROCHEMISTRY; CATALYSTS One-dimensional (1D) hierarchical structures composed of Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanosheets grown on carbon nanotube (CNT) backbone (denoted as CNT rate at Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2}) are fabricated by a rational multi-step transformation route. The first step involves coating the CNT backbone with a layer of silica to form CNT rate at SiO{sub 2}, which serves as the substrate for the growth of nickel silicate (NiSilicate) nanosheets in the second step to form CNT rate at SiO{sub 2} rate at NiSilicate core-double shell 1D structures. Finally the as-formed CNT rate at SiO{sub 2} rate at NiSilicate 1D structures are converted into CNT-supported Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanosheets via hydrothermal treatment in the presence of Na{sub 2}S. Simultaneously the intermediate silica layer is eliminated during the hydrothermal treatment, leading to the formation of CNT rate at Ni{sub 3}S{sub 2} nanostructures. Because of the unique hybrid nano-architecture, the as-prepared 1D hierarchical structure is shown to exhibit excellent performance in both supercapacitors and photocatalytic H{sub 2} production. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201200269 Germany 2012-12-15 English Journal Article Journal Name: Advanced Energy Materials; Journal Volume: 2; Journal Issue: 12; Other Information: With 7 figs., NA tabs., 51 refs. Medium: X; Size: page(s) 1497-1502 https://doi.org/10.1002/AENM.201200269 [] 12 2 Journal ID: ISSN 1614-6832; TRN: DE13G1092 DE 2013-04-12 22031150