Nitrogen plasma-induced phase engineering and titanium carbide/carbon nanotubes dual conductive skeletons endow molybdenum disulfide with significantly improved lithium storage performance.

MoS/TiC MXene composite has emerged as a promising anode material for lithium storage due to the synergistic combination of high specific capacity offered by MoS and conductive skeleton provided by TiC MXene. However, its two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) structure is susceptible to collapse after long cycles, while the inherent low conductivity of MoS limits its rate performance. In this study, we developed a novel approach combining plasma-induced phase engineering with dual skeleton structure design to fabricate a unique P-MoS/TiC/CNTs anode material featuring highly conductive 1T phase MoS and a stable one-dimensional/two-dimensional (1D/2D) architecture. Within this architecture, growth of MoS nanosheets on the surface of TiC cross-linked by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was achieved. The resulting TiC/CNTs dual skeleton not only provides robust mechanical support to prevent structural collapse during long cycles but also offers increased specific surface area and additional Li storage space, thereby enhancing the lithium storage capacity of the composite. Subsequent N plasma treatment induced a phase transition in MoS from 2H to 1T configuration. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed that the induced 1T-MoS exhibits higher conductivity and lower Li diffusion barrier compared to 2H-MoS. Benefiting from these synergistic effects, our P-MoS/TiC/CNTs anode demonstrated remarkable electrochemical performance including a high reversible specific capacity of 1120 mAh g at 0.1 A g, excellent cycling stability with a specific capacity retention of 670 mAh g after 600 cycles at 1 A/g, and superior rate performance with a specific capacity of 614 mAh g at 2 A g. This combined modification strategy will serve as guidance for designing other energy storage materials.