Partially carbonized strategy of ZIF-8 for the fabrication of ZnS/NC@MoS2 anode material : Towards high-performance Li+/Na+ storage

To address the issues of poor cycling stability and unrealized theoretical capacity of layered molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) as an anode material—caused by severe volume expansion during charge/discharge processes—we innovatively propose a "partial carbonization" modification strategy for ZIF-8 templates. This approach successfully constructs a ZnS/NC "dodecahedral nursery" rich in active sites. Benefiting from the abundant anchoring sites provided by this structure, MoS 2 can uniformly and firmly "take root" on the "nursery" via Mo–N bonds, ultimately forming a composite material (ZnS/NC@MoS 2 ) in which MoS 2 nanoflowers uniformly coat the dodecahedral framework. This composite effectively mitigates the volume expansion of MoS 2 and enhances overall structural stability. Moreover, the zinc retained by the partial carbonization strategy, after sulfidation, contributes additional capacity via conversion reactions, further enhancing the material's electrochemical performance. Specifically, when used as an anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), it maintains a specific capacity of 895.64 mAh g −1 after 1200 cycles at 2 A g −1 ; for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), its specific capacity increases from 348 mAh g −1 to 510 mAh g −1 after 500 cycles at 1 A g −1 .