A unique controlled synthesis of zinc cobalt sulfide nanostructures is obtained by a facile oil phase approach. Nanoartichokes composed of self-assembled nanosheets and nanoparticles have been fabricated by using different sulfur source. The application of such nanomaterials is demonstrated as electrodes for supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries. Serving as lithium-ion batteries electrodes, the ZnxCo1-xS nanoartichokes deliver a higher specific capacity of 750 mA h g-1 during the 100th cycle as compared to only 220 mAh g-1 for nanoparticles. In supercapacitors test, the ZnxCo1-xS nanoartichokes possess an improved specific capacitance (578 F g-1 at the current density of 2.0 A g-1) and excellent cycling stability (retaining 75% after 2000 cycles), which is much higher than that of nanoparticles (e.g. 427 F g-1 and 60%). This effective nanostructure design of ternary transition metal sulfides could provide a promising method to construct high-performance materials for energy and environment applications.