Interlayer-Expanded MoS2 Enabled by Sandwiched Monolayer Carbon for High Performance Potassium Storage

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have aroused a large amount of interest recently due to the plentiful potassium resource, which may show cost benefits over lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the huge volume expansion induced by the intercalation of large-sized potassium ions and the intrinsic sluggish kinetics of the anode hamper the application of PIBs. Herein, by rational design, nano-roses assembled from petals with a MoS2/monolayer carbon (C-MoS2) sandwiched structure were successfully synthesized. The interlayer distance of ultrathin C-MoS2 was expanded from original MoS2 of 6.2 to 9.6 Å due to the formation of the MoS2-carbon inter overlapped superstructure. This unique structure efficiently alleviates the mechanical strain, prevents the aggregation of MoS2, creates more active sites, facilitates electron transport, and enhances the specific capacity and K+ diffusion kinetics. As a result, the prepared C-MoS2-1 anode delivers a high reversible specific capacity (437 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1) and satisfying rate performance (123 mAh g-1 at 6.4 A g-1). Therefore, this work provides new insights into the design of high-performance anode materials of PIBs.