Hydrogen peroxide enabled two-dimensional molybdenum trioxide nanosheet clusters for enhanced surface Li-ion storage

Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) is regarded as a promising electrode material for lithium (Li)-ion batteries because of its unique layered structure with a high theoretical capacity (similar to 1117 mAh.g(-1)). Till now, numerous researches have focused on tuning MoO3 morphology to improve its electrochemical performance. However, the fabrication of MoO3 with a two-dimensional (2D) nanosheet clusters structure has yet been achieved. Here, we report a facile one-step solvothermal method to prepare MoO3 nanosheets, of which the morphology can be facilely tuned via the dose of hydrogen peroxide. Both the experimental results and theoretical calculation suggest that the resultant 2D nanosheets structure could reduce the diffusion paths, which is beneficial for the intercalation of Li-ion. As a result, the nanosheets assembled Li-ion battery has a reversible specific capacity of 756.1 mAh.g(-1) at 0.5 A.g(-1), and maintained at 214.7 mAh.g(-1) after 600 cycles at a current density of 1 A.g(-1) with the Coulombic efficiency as high as 97.17%.