Free-standing molybdenum disulfides on porous carbon cloth for lithium-ion battery anodes

Abstract

In this study, a free-standing MoS2 nanofilm on a porous carbon cloth (MoS2@PCC) was prepared for application as an anode in Li-ion batteries. Uniform, non-aggregated MoS2@PCC electrodes were synthesized via facile electric-wire-explosion, dip-coating, and thermal sulfidation processes. The phase and morphologies were controlled using a variety of explosion media that had different carbon contents. The dip-coating of PCC into a colloidal solution prepared by underwater explosion of Mo metallic wire and the thermal sulfidation process provided higher uniformity of MoS2 nanoparticles with no particle aggregation. This facilitated the charge transfer and accommodation of volume expansion of Li-active MoS2 upon cycling. Consequently, the free-standing MoS2@PCC electrodes exhibited enhanced lithium reactivity, high rate capability, and cycle durability, compared with the conventional MoS2 nanoparticle electrode.