Pre-lithiation of onion-like carbon/MoS2 nano-urchin anodes for high-performance rechargeable lithium ion batteries

Abstract

Hybrid urchin-like nanostructures composed of a spherical onion-like carbon (OLC) core and MoS₂ nanoleaves were synthesized by a simple solvothermal method followed by thermal annealing treatment. Compared to commercial MoS₂ powder, MoS₂/OLC nanocomposites exhibit enhanced electrochemical performance as anode materials of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with a specific capacity of 853 mA h g⁻¹ at a current density of 50 mA g⁻¹ after 60 cycles, and a moderate initial coulombic efficiency of 71.1%. Furthermore, a simple pre-lithiation method based on direct contact of lithium foil with MoS₂/OLC nano-urchins was used to achieve a very high coulombic efficiency of 97.6% in the first discharge/charge cycle, which is at least 26% higher compared to that of pristine MoS₂/OLC nano-urchins. This pre-lithiation method can be generalized to develop other carbon-metal sulfide nanohybrids for LIB anode materials. These results may open up a new avenue for the development of the next-generation high-performance LIBs.