The exploration of heterostructure materials with unique
electronic
properties is considered a desirable platform for fabricating electrode/surface
interface relationships for constructing asymmetric supercapacitors
(ASCs) with high energy density. In this work, a heterostructure based
on amorphous nickel boride (Ni
X
B) and
crystalline square bar-like manganese molybdate (MnMoO4) was prepared by a simple synthesis strategy. The formation of the
Ni
X
B/MnMoO4 hybrid was confirmed
by powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD), field emission scanning electron
microscopy (FE-SEM), field-emission transmission electron microscopy
(FE-TEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Raman, and X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In this hybrid system (Ni
X
B/MnMoO4), the intact combination of Ni
X
B and MnMoO4 leads to a large
surface area with open porous channels and abundant crystalline/amorphous
interfaces with a tunable electronic structure. This Ni
X
B/MnMoO4 hybrid shows high specific capacitance
(587.4 F g–1) at 1 A g–1, and
it even retains a capacitance of 442.2 F g–1 at
10 A g–1, indicating superior electrochemical performance.
The fabricated Ni
X
B/MnMoO4 hybrid
electrode also exhibited an excellent capacity retention of 124.4%
(10000 cycles) and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.8% at a current density
of 10 A g–1. In addition, the ASC device (Ni
X
B/MnMoO4//activated carbon) achieved
a specific capacitance of 104 F g–1 at 1 A g–1 and delivered a high energy density of 32.5 Wh.kg–1 with a power density of 750 W·kg–1. This exceptional electrochemical behavior is due to the ordered
porous architecture and the strong synergistic effect of Ni
X
B and MnMoO4, which enhances the accessibility
and adsorption of OH– ions that improve electron
transport. Moreover, the Ni
X
B/MnMoO4//AC device exhibits excellent cyclic stability with a retention
of 83.4% of the original capacitance after 10000 cycles, which is
due to the heterojunction layer between Ni
X
B and MnMoO4 that can improve the surface wettability
without causing structural changes. Our results show that the metal
boride/molybdate-based heterostructure is a new category of high-performance
and promising material for the growth of advanced energy storage devices.