Three-Dimensional Molybdenum Disulfide Nanoflowers Decorated on Graphene Nanosheets for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

A simple hydrothermal route was designed to prepare 3D flower-like MoS2/graphene composites (FL-MoS2/graphene). Herein, two products, denoted C-FL-MoS2/graphene and N-FL-MoS2/graphene, were produced by facile glucose- and glucosamine-mediated methods, respectively. Both composites were found to show a well-defined morphology with a unique structure, in which the dispersed MoS2 nanoflowers are tightly anchored onto the graphene nanosheets. Moreover, the nanoflowers are constructed by a lot of wrinkled MoS2 thin nanosheets, which generates numerous open voids. In the process, glucose or glucosamine as the binder plays a similar role in regulating the growth of flower-like MoS2 on graphene. In terms of electrochemical performance, the FL-MoS2/graphene composite demonstrates superior lithium-storage capabilities, including a high reversible capacity, excellent cycle stability, and good rate capability, than N-MoS2/graphene (without the addition of any binder). Specifically, C-FL-MoS2/graphene shows a high reversible capacity of 980mAhg(-1) at a current of 100mAg(-1) even after 100cycles, and a significantly improved high rate capability of 740mAhg(-1) is also retained at a current density of 1000mAg(-1). The remarkable performance of FL-MoS2/graphene was determined to result mainly from the unique architecture comprising 3D flower-like MoS2 particles and graphene nanosheets with superior conductivity.