N-doped carbon-coated MoS 2 nanosheets on hollow carbon microspheres for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a promising alternative anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). MoS2 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 MoS2 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 MoS2 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.