Fabrication of 3D hierarchical MoS₂/polyaniline and MoS₂/C architectures for lithium-ion battery applications.

In this work, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical MoS2/polyaniline (PANI) nanoflowers were successfully fabricated via a simple hydrothermal method. The crystal structure and morphology of the MoS2/PANI nanoflowers were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, and FT-IR spectra, revealing that the nanoflowers were composed of ultrathin nanoplates which consisted of few-layered MoS2 nanosheets with enlarged interlayer distance of the (002) plane and PANI. The excellent electrochemical performance of the 3D hierarchical MoS2/PANI nanoflowers was demonstrated. Further 3D hierarchical MoS2/C nanoflowers can be prepared conveniently by annealing the MoS2/PANI sample in a N2 atmosphere at 500 °C for 4 h. The obtained MoS2/C sample exhibited more excellent electrochemical performance due to its excellent electronic conductivity resulting from the close integration of MoS2 nanosheets with carbon matrix. High reversible capacity of 888.1 mAh g(-1) with the Coulombic efficiency maintained at above 90% from the first cycle were achieved at a current density of 100 mA g(-1). Even at a current density of 1000 mA g(-1), the reversible capacity of the MoS2/C sample could be retained at 511 mAh g(-1). The excellent electrochemical performance of these two samples could be attributed to the combined action of enlarged interlayer distance of the ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets, 3D architectures, hierarchical structures, and conductive material. Thus, these 3D hierarchical nanoflowers are competent as promising anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.