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Van der Waals heterostructure engineering by 2D space-confinement for advanced potassium-ion storage

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Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has received enormous attentions in the electrochemical energy storage due to its unique two-dimensional layered structure and relatively high reversible capacity. However, the application of MoS2 in potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) is restricted by poor rate capability and cyclability, which are associated with the sluggish reaction kinetics and the huge volume expansion during K+ intercalation. Herein, we propose a two-dimensional (2D) space confined strategy to construct van der Waals heterostructure for superior PIB anode, in which the MoS2 nanosheets can be well dispersed on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets by leveraging the confinement effect within the graphene layers and amorphous carbon. The strong synergistic effects in 2D van der Waals heterostructure can extremely promote the electron transportation and ions diffusion during K+ insertion/extraction. More significantly, the 2D space-confinement effect and van der Waals force inhibit polysulfide conversion product dissolution into the electrolyte, which significantly strengthens the structural durability during the long-term cycling process. As anticipated, the as-synthesized the “face-to-face” C/MoS2/G anode delivers remarkable K-storage performance, especially for high reversible capacity (362.5 mAh·g−1 at 0.1 A·g−1), excellent rate capability (195.4 mAh·g−1 at 10 Ag−1) and superior ultrahigh-rate long-cycling stability (126.4 mAh·g−1 after 4000 cycles at high rate of 5 A·g−1). This work presents a promise strategy of structure designing and composition optimization for 2D layered materials in advanced energy storage application.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51902347, 51822812, 51772334, and 51778627) and Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No. 2020JJ5741).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for High Efficiency Recovery of Refractory Nonferrous Metals, School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Bi Luo, Jiafeng Zhang, Liang Cao, Chunhui Wang, Bao Zhang & Xing Ou

  2. Key Laboratory on Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, China

    Peng Wu

  3. Institute of Advanced Magnetic Materials, College of Materials & Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Bin Lu

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  1. Bi Luo
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Luo, B., Wu, P., Zhang, J. et al. Van der Waals heterostructure engineering by 2D space-confinement for advanced potassium-ion storage. Nano Res. 14, 3854–3863 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3305-3

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