Hierarchical Nanocomposite of Hollow N‑Doped Carbon Spheres Decorated with Ultrathin WS2 Nanosheets for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2016-07, Vol.8 (29), p.18841-18848
• Main Authors: Zeng, Xiaohui, Ding, Zhengping, Ma, Cheng, Wu, Laidi, Liu, Jiatu, Chen, Libao, Ivey, Douglas G, Wei, Weifeng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b04770

Hierarchical nanocomposite of ultrathin WS2 nanosheets uniformly attached on the surface of hollow nitrogen-doped carbon spheres (WS2@HNCSs) were successfully fabricated via a facile synthesis strategy. When evaluated as an anode material for LIBs, the hierarchical WS2@HNCSs exhibit a high specific capacity of 801.4 mA h g–1 at 0.1 A g–1, excellent rate capability (545.6 mA h g–1 at a high current density of 2 A g–1), and great cycling stability with a capacity retention of 95.8% after 150 cycles at 0.5 A g–1. The Li-ion storage properties of our WS2@HNCSs nanocomposite are much better than those of the previously most reported WS2-based anode materials. The impressive electrochemical performance is attributed to the robust nanostructure and the favorable synergistic effect between the ultrathin (3–5 layers) WS2 nanosheets and the highly conductive hollow N-doped carbon spheres. The hierarchical hybrid can simultaneously facilitate fast electron/ion transfer, effectively accommodate mechanical stress from cycling, restrain agglomeration, and enable full utilization of the active materials. These characteristics make WS2@HNCSs a promising anode material for high-performance LIBs.