Nanoporous MoS2/C Composites for High Performance Lithium Ion Battery Anode Material

MoS2 is a promising anode material due to its graphite-like structure and high theoretical capacity (∼670 mAh g−1). Fast capacity fading and severe structural deterioration as a result of repeated lithium insertion restrict its application, however. Recently, we successfully synthesized a new type of MoS2/C composite and found that the composite showed excellent electrochemical performance, such as by its high capacity of 982 mAhg−1 after 100 cycles. The composite was synthesized by a simplified thermal reduction method in which cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and silica nanospheres are used as the carbon source and template material, respectively. Such favorable capacity retention could be attributed to the large specific surface area due to the effective carbon dispersion in the composite, as well as the enlargement of the interlayer spacing in the S-Mo-S structure.