In situ growth of petal-like MoS2–MoO2 heterostructure on carbon cloth for superior Zn-ion storage

Suffered from inherent low ionic/electronic conductivity of semiconductor 2H phase, the performance of pristine MoS2 cathode for aqueous Zn-ion batteries has always been disappointing. Here, we fabricated a MoS2–MoO2 heterostructure with petal-like three-dimensional nanoarrays in situ grown on carbon cloth (MoS2–MoO2@CC) by seed-assisted hydrothermal method. The metallic phase MoO2 cooperates with the carbon cloth substrate to boost the ionic/electronic conductivity of the composite material, while the presence of the heterogeneous structure accelerates the electron conductivity at the interface and promotes fast reaction kinetics. The synthesized MoS2–MoO2@CC electrode exhibits a high discharge capacity of 259.6 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and maintains a stable discharge capacity of 122.6 mAh g−1 at 2.0 A g−1 after 1000 cycles, reflecting outstanding cycling stability.