Boron Oxide Enhancing Stability of MoS Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS) is the most well-known transition metal chalcogenide for lithium storage applications because of its simple preparation process, superior optical, physical, and electrical properties, and high stability. However, recent research has shown that bare MoS nanosheet (NS) can be reformed to the bulk structure, and sulfur atoms can be dissolved in electrolytes or form polymeric structures, thereby preventing lithium insertion/desertion and reducing cycling performance. To enhance the electrochemical performance of the MoS NSs, BO nanoparticles were decorated on the surface of MoS NSs via a sintering technique. The structure of BO decorated MoS changed slightly with the formation of a lattice spacing of ~7.37 Å. The characterization of materials confirmed the formation of BO crystals at 30% weight percentage of HBO starting materials. In particular, the MoS_B3 sample showed a stable capacity of ~500 mAh·g after the first cycle. The cycling test delivered a high reversible specific capacity of ~82% of the second cycle after 100 cycles. Furthermore, the rate performance also showed a remarkable recovery capacity of ~98%. These results suggest that the use of BO decorations could be a viable method for improving the stability of anode materials in lithium storage applications.