Rational design of MoSe₂ nanosheet-coated MOF-derived N-doped porous carbon polyhedron for potassium storage

For potassium-ion battery (PIB), it remains a huge challenge to develop an appropriate anode material to compensate the large radius of K⁺. MoSe₂ shows great potential for efficient K⁺ insertion/extraction due to its unique lamellar structures with an interlayer spacing of 6.46 Å. However, pure MoSe₂ has low electronic conductivity and agglomerates during long-term cycling. In the present work, MoSe₂ nanosheets were fabricated on the N-doped porous carbon polyhedron (NPCP). The obtained product was designated as NPCP@MoSe₂ and functioned as anode materials for PIBs. NPCP@MoSe₂ displayed a promising reversible capacity (325 mAh/g at 100 mA/g after 80 cycles), long-term cycling performance (128 mAh/g at 500 mA/g after 800 cycles), and superior rate property at 5000 mA/g. The enhanced electrochemical performance of NPCP@MoSe₂ could be attributed to the rational design of hybrid structures. Notably, the hollow NPCP provide a large contact area for the interactions among the electrolytes and electro-active materials as well as partly buffer the volume expansion. The synergistic effects between MoSe₂ and NPCP could mitigate the agglomeration of MoSe₂ nanosheets. Besides, the uniformly doping N elements enhanced the conductivity of the carbon matrix, and the N-group also provided potential binding active sites for K-ion accommodation. This work paves the ideas for the design of novel anode materials with high specific capacity, good cycling stability and outstanding rate capability for PIBs.