N-doped graphene encapsulated MoS2 nanosphere composite as a high-performance anode for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract MoS2 is widely used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high capacity (670 mAh g-1) and unique two-dimensional structure. However, the further application was limited of MoS2 as anode materials suffer from its volume expansion and low conductivity. In this work, N-doped graphene encapsulated MoS2 nanosphere composite (MoS2@NG) were prepared and its unique sandwich structure containing abundant mesopores and defects can efficiently enhance reaction kinetics. The MoS2@NG electrode shows a reversible capacity of 989.4 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 after 100 cycles, and a reversible capacity of 352.8 mAh g-1 is still maintained after 300 cycles at 5 A g-1. In addition, the MoS2@NG electrode exhibites an excellent rate performance benefiting from the electrochemical properties dominated by capacitive behavior. This suggests that MoS2@NG composite can be used as potential anode materials for LIBs