Ultrasmall few-layered MoS2 nanosheets anchored on flower-like hierarchical carbons as a long-life electrode for lithium storage

In this work, a novel nanocomposite with few-layered ultrasmall MoS2 nanosheets uniformly anchored on a three-dimensional (3D) flower-like carbon (FC) was designed and prepared, where zinc oxide was used as a sacrificial template to prepare a biomass-based FC skeleton by a hydrothermal method and subsequent high-temperature carbonization. When evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the three-dimensional FC matrix can not only improve the electronic conductivity of the hybrid, but also enable fast electrolyte diffusion to MoS2. The FC–MoS2 hybrid exhibits a high second reversible capacity of 1033 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1, excellent cycling stability with negligible capacity loss after 200 cycles at 1.6 A g−1, and good rate performance. Additionally, the hybrid also shows enhanced electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution. We believe that our method may provide a cost-effective and eco-friendly route to prepare 3D biomass-based composites for energy generation or storage.