Phase-transformation engineering in MoS2 on carbon cloth as flexible binder-free anode for enhancing lithium storage

Nanostructured MoS2 is emerging as a prospective material for lithium ion batteries. However, undesirable lattice stress results in inhomogeneous phase change and slow kinetics, which leads to rapid decay of cyclic stability. Initial phase conversion before the electrochemical intercalation can alleviate this problem. Herein, MoS2 nanosheets with partial 2H -> 1T phase transition under incorporative nitrogen atoms were synthesized controllably on the carbon cloth (CC). The hierarchical self- supporting three-dimensional (3D) 1T@2H MoS2@ CC was confirmed and such a freestanding flexible electrode exhibited a significant improvement in the electrochemical characteristics. A strong correlation between such phase transition properties and electrochemical characteristics is established. This work provides an intriguing and effective approach on phase engineering of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) for enhanced electrochemical energy storage. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.