N-doped carbon-coated MoS2 nanosheets on hollow carbon microspheres for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) is a promising alternative anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). MoS 2 has unique layered crystal structure with a large and tunable interlayer distance, and is anticipated to have excellent rate and cycling stabilities due to improved lithium ion intercalation and de-intercalation. In this work, we successfully prepared novel N-doped carbon-coated MoS 2 nanosheets on hollow carbon microspheres . The composite spheres have an average diameter of 520 nm. We demonstrate that these electrodes show excellent electrochemical performance, which is attributed to the synergistic effect between the carbon microspheres, N-doped carbon coating, and MoS 2 nanosheets. The best performing electrode has high specific capacity of 997 mAh g −1 and good cycling stability, retaining a capacity of around 707 mAh g −1 at a current density of 100 mA g −1 after 120 cycles; furthermore, the electrode shows stable rate performance, retaining a capacity of 631 mAh g −1 at a current density of 2000 mA g −1 .