Regular Article Facile chemical route for multiwalled carbon nanotube/mercury sulfide nanocomposite: High performance supercapacitive electrode Shilpa A. Pande a,⇑ , Bidhan Pandit b,⇑ , Babasaheb R. Sankapal b a Department of Applied Physics, Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur 440033, Maharashtra, India b Nano Materials and Device Laboratory, Department of Physics, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, South Ambazari Road, Nagpur 440010, Maharashtra, India graphical abstract Electrochemical approach of chemically synthesized MWCNT/HgS composite towards high performance supercapacitor application. article info Article history: Received 10 November 2017 Revised 23 December 2017 Accepted 26 December 2017 Available online 27 December 2017 Keywords: SILAR method MWCNT/HgS electrode Energy storage Symmetric supercapacitor device abstract Supercapacitors as one of the most important energy storage devices have been receiving worldwide attention due to their high capacitance, power density, long cycle life, and rapid charge/discharge rates as compared to conventional electrolytic capacitors and rechargeable batteries. A nanocomposite has been prepared using mercury sulfide (HgS) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) via novel, sim- ple, and low-cost ‘dip and dry’ process followed by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The association of HgS nanoparticles with high surface area reinforced MWCNTs nanonetwork boosts the electrochemical supercapacitive performance of nanocomposite compared to bare HgS and MWCNTs. This nanocomposite yields excellent specific capacitance of 946.43 F/g at scan rate of 2 mV/s and an outstanding rate capability of 93% retention over 4000 cycles with decent charge–discharge cycles. Moreover, the electrode exhibits maximum specific energy and power densities of 42.97 Wh/kg and 1.60 kW/kg, respectively. The promising capabilities of formed nanocomposite can explore the opportunities as alternative electrode material for energy storage applications. Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2017.12.068 0021-9797/Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc. ⇑ Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses: sap7001@gmail.com (S.A. Pande), physics.bidhan@gmail.com (B. Pandit). Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 514 (2018) 740–749 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Colloid and Interface Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jcis