Towel-like composite: Edge-rich MoS2 nanosheets oriented anchored on curly N-Doped graphene for high-performance lithium and sodium storage

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a promising candidate for high-performance electrodes of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium ion batteries (SIBs). In this work, we propose an integrated towel-like structure comprising edge-rich, interlayer-expanded, and oxygen-incorporated MoS2 nanosheets oriented anchored on curly N-doped graphene (MS@N-G). The heterogeneous interfaces are connected via chemical bonds, which provide high-speed electronic transport and improve the structural stability of the hybrid materials. The designed structure delivers excellent rate capability of 461 mAh g(-1) at 2000 mA g(-1) for LIBs and 350 mAh g(-1) at 1000 mA g(-1) for SIBs, and long lifespan performance with 675 mAh g(-1) at 500 mA g(-1) after 450 cycles for LIBs and 396 mAh g(-1) at 500 mA g(-1) after 140 cycles for SIBs. This study reveals that the fundamental approach to improve the electrochemical performance of MoS2 on the electrode level is building a robust connection between the MoS2 and conductive matrix and optimizing the electron conduction across the interfaces. The materials design approach and synthesize procedure could be applied more broadly to high-performance energy storage electrode materials. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved