Nitrogen doped hollow MoS2/C nanospheres as anode for long-life sodium-ion batteries

As a complement or alternative to lithium ion batteries, development of high-performance sodium ion batteries with long cycle life is urgent. Here, nitrogen doped urchin-like MoS2/C hollow structures are successfully synthesized by using Mo-MOFs as the precursors with a facile sulfuration process. The nanocomposites that contain carbon and nitrogen elements possess good electronic conductivity as well as expanded interlayer, which are beneficial for electron transportation and ion diffusion. The hierarchical hollow structure is able to accommodate volume change during discharge/charge. When applied as anode for sodium-ion batteries, the N-doped MoS2/C anode exhibits good rate capability and outstanding cycling performance. It delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 972 mA h g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1). The discharge capacity can achieve 242 mA h g(-1) even at 5000 mA g(-1). Importantly, long-term cycling test shows that the capacity maintains a considerable capacity of 128 mA h g(-1) after 5000 cycles at 2 A g(-1), with a capacity fading rate of 0.036% per cycle. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.