An integrated electrode based on nanoflakes of MoS₂ on carbon cloth for enhanced lithium storage

Due to its high specific capacity (in theory), molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has been recognized as a plausible substitute in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, it suffers from an inferior electric conductivity and a substantial volume change during Li⁺ insertion/extraction. By using a facile hydrothermal method, a flexible free-standing MoS₂ electrode has here been fabricated onto a carbon cloth substrate. The grafting of ultrathin MoS₂ nanoflakes onto the carbon cloth framework (forming CC@MoS₂), was shown to facilitate an improved electron transport, as well as an enhanced Li⁺ transport. As expected, the as-obtained CC@MoS₂ electrode was observed to exhibit an excellent lithium storage performance. It delivers a high discharge specific capacity of 2.42 mA h cm^-2 at 0.7 mA cm^-2 (even after 100 cycles), which is an impressive result.