Perpendicular growth of few-layered MoS2 nanosheets on MoO3 nanowires fabricated by direct anion exchange reactions for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

One dimensional (1D) hierarchical core-shell structures (MoO3@MoS2) constructed by perpendicular growth of few-layered MoS2 nanosheets on MoO3 nanowires were successfully fabricated by a direct anion-exchange reaction of the inorganic MoO3 nanowire precursor. The morphology and structure of the products can be controlled by adjusting the hybrid solvent in the anion-exchange process, and the contents of MoS2 and MoO3 in the core-shell nanowires can be easily tuned by adding a varied amount of thiourea. Although the organic-inorganic precursor was not used, the 1D structure of the inorganic MoO3 nanowire was still maintained. An amazing feature of the MoO3@MoS2 nanowire was its 1D hierarchical core-shell structure integrated with two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets and 1D MoO3 nanowires. The numerous few-layered MoS2 nanosheets grew perpendicularly on the MoO3 nanowires, providing plenty of diffusion channels for Li+ during the insertion/extraction process. Due to the abundant hardly stacked MoS2 nanosheets and the synergistic effects between MoO3 nanowires and MoS2 nanosheets, this unique MoO3@MoS2 nanowire showed greatly improved Li+ storage properties when evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs).