Thin MoS₂ Nanoflakes Encapsulated in Carbon Nanofibers as High-Performance Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

In this work, highly flexible MoS2-based lithium-ion battery anodes composed of disordered thin MoS2 nanoflakes encapsulated in amorphous carbon nanofibrous mats were fabricated for the first time through hydrothermal synthesis of graphene-like MoS2, followed by electrospinning and carbonization. X-ray diffraction as well as scanning and transmission electron microscopic studies show that the as-synthesized MoS2 nanoflakes have a thickness of about 5 nm with an expanded interlayer spacing, and their structure and morphology are well-retained after the electrospinning and carbonization. At relatively low MoS2 contents, the nanoflakes are dispersed and well-embedded in the carbon nanofibers. Consequently, excellent electrochemical performance, including good cyclability and high rate capacity, was achieved with the hybrid nanofibrous mat at the MoS2 content of 47%, which may be attributed to the fine thickness and multilayered structure of the MoS2 sheets with an expanded interlayer spacing, the good charge conduction provided by the high-aspect-ratio carbon nanofibers, and the robustness of the nanofibrous mat.

Effect of Polymer Binders on the Electrochemical Properties of MoS2 Anodes in Lithium Ion Batteries

“…12,22 The intense peak at approximately 0.4 V is attributed to the decomposition of Li x MoS 2 to Mo and Li 2 S. 18,25 During the anodic scans, the peaks at 1.8 V could be associated with oxidation of Mo to MoS 2 , and the peak at 2.3 V is caused by the oxidation of Li 2 S into sulfur. 10,18 In the second and subsequent discharge cycles, two cathodic peaks appearing around 2.0 and 1.3 V are related to the redox of Mo nanoparticles and revisable formation of Li 2 S, respectively.…”

Nanostructured electrode materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries via electrospinning

“…Among them, NiS and SnS encapsulated in CNFs showed uniform nanoparticles while the others displayed aggregation tendency in CNFs. In addition, Zhao et al [178] and Yu et al [179] prepared electrospun MoS 2 nanoflakes and WS 2 nanoplates dispersed in CNFs, respectively. To further improve the structural stability and electronic conductivity, Zhi's group presented preparation of SnS 2 @graphene nanocables [180] and MoS 2 @graphene nanocables [181] as anode materials for LIBs.…”

Recent Advances in Controlling Syntheses and Energy Related Applications of MX2 and MX2/Graphene Heterostructures

“…Recent literatures have reported remarkable advances in the applications of such materials in electronic and optoelectronic devices, [1,2,5,10,[12][13][14][15]21,[25][26][27] electrocatalysis, [46,48,53,[64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74] Li or Na ion batteries, [83,85,[132][133][134][135][136] photocatalysis,, [75,77,80,137] and biomedicine, [76,[138][139][140] etc. This section focuses on the discussion about the applications of monolayer MX 2 and MX 2 /Gr heterostructures.…”