Nanoarchitectonics of Indium Sulfide/Exfoliated-Graphite/Multi-Walled-Carbon-Nanotubes Nanocomposite in Benzyl Alcohol and A Study of Its Effect on Aqueous Symmetrical Supercapacitors

A new ternary nanocomposite comprised of nanoscale indium sulfide, exfoliated graphite (EG) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs) was successfully produced in one-step. This nanoarchitectonics design, which could be fabricated under 5 minutes, was made possible by integrating a rapid microwave-assisted thermolysis of indium chloride-thiourea complex at 200 °C and the effective exfoliation of EG and stable dispersion formation of MWCNTs in polar benzyl alcohol. The polar nature and high boiling point (205 °C at 1 atm) of benzyl alcohol were crucial in enhancing the crystallinity of the nanoscale indium sulfide produced. The ternary nanocomposite was structurally characterized using a combination of PXRD, FESEM, HRTEM and EDX, and its electrochemical properties were methodically elucidated via cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge. The ternary nanocomposite design was found to outperform its binary and singular counterparts with its Csp value registered to be 112 % higher than that quantified for the indium-sulfide-only counterpart. A capacitance retention of 93% was registered for the ternary composite after 4000 cycles at a current density of 1 A/g, when paired with a mild aqueous sodium sulfite (Na₂SO₃) electrolyte in a supercapacitor set-up.