Mesoporous Silica Template-Assisted Synthesis of 1T-MoS2 as the Anode for Li-Ion Battery Applications

The development of the MoS2-based catalyst is receiving more attention in recent years, especially with enriched metallic (1T) phase because of their improvized electrocatalytic behavior. However, the formation of MoS2 with the enriched 1T phase is still hampered because the most stable one is 2H phase. Till date, the most adopted technique to synthesize 1T-MoS2 is the alkali metal exfoliation, but the usage of undesirable organic medium and pyrophoric alkali metal ions is the main setback to this technique. On the other hand, low extent of the 1T phase and lack of reproducibility are issues with aqueous medium synthesis of 1T-MoS2. Here, in contrast, the SBA-15 template-assisted technique has been used for the formation of 1T-MoS2 with 90% phase enrichment. As a proof-of-concept, the as-synthesized 1T-MoS2 is investigated as anode materials in the Li-ion battery and they delivered a high initial specific capacity of 1100 mA h g(-1) at the 0.1 C rate in the potential window of 0.005-3.0 V and showed a capacity of 700 mA h g(-1) with 80% capacity retention after 50 cycles. Investigation of power capability of 1T-MoS2 at high applied current of 1 C rate produced a stable specific capacity of 551 mA h g(-1) after 100 cycles. The impressive electrochemical Li+ ion storage property of 1T-MoS2 is attributed to its good electrical conductivity, fast Li+ ion, and electron conduction owing to its 2D-networked flower-like structure. Moreover, this facile approach is highly useful for the selective enrichment of the 1T phase in other 2D-layered materials that can be used for energy storage and conversion devices.

Automated summary

The development of MoS2-based catalyst with enriched metallic (1T) phase has attracted increasing attention. Current techniques for synthesizing 1T-MoS2 face challenges, but using the SBA-15 template-assisted technique has shown promise in achieving 90% phase enrichment.