Sulfur nanodots as MoS2 antiblocking agent for stable sodium ion battery anodes

MoS2 possessing a layered structure with d-space around 0.62 nm is a promising anode material for sodium ion batteries (SIBS), presenting an attractively high theoretical capacity. However, poor cycle stability due to stacking is one of its main challenges. In this work, sulfur nanodots are employed as an efficient antiblocking agent of MoS2 sheets (S/MoS2). The S/MoS2 nanoarchitectures, constructed using few-layered MoS2 with deposited sulfur nanodots (similar to 10 nm), are facilely synthesized in a horizontal tube furnace with two temperature-controlled zones. Employed as SIB anode material, the S/MoS2 architectures deliver a high reversible capacity of 497.6 mA h g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1), remaining at 413.2 mA h g(-1) over 100 cycles. Moreover, the architectures exhibit a capacity of 358.8 mA h g(-1) at a higher current density of 500 mA g(-1) with excellent cycling stability, surviving 300 full charge/discharge cycles with a retention of 83.8%