High Areal Capacitance for Lithium Ion Storage Achieved by a Hierarchical Carbon/MoS₂ Aerogel with Vertically Aligned Pores

Developing high energy density electrode materials is of great importance for the practical applications of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Here, an integrated vertically aligned carbon/MoS2 aerogel (VA-C/MoS2) with oriented pores has been developed. Vertically aligned pores ensure fast transportation of electrons and rapid penetration of electrolyte, meanwhile decreasing the transfer resistance of ions in this VA-C/MoS2 anode. The good electrical conductivity of three-dimensional (3D) carbon matrix with interconnected microstructures, coupling with the homogeneously anchored MoS2 nanoflakes, promotes that all the active sites of MoS2 can be exploited during the electrochemical process. Due to these structural features of the VA-C/MoS2 aerogel, an excellent specific capacity of 1089 mAh/g, a high rate capability, and a long-term cycling stability up to 1000 cycles have been simultaneously achieved. Importantly, the areal capacity achieved by VA-C/MoS2 aerogel (12.4 mAh/cm2) based on a high mass loading of MoS2 (16 mg/cm2) is a 10-fold increase compared with the result of pure MoS2 aggregations (1.24 mAh/cm2). These structural advantages and the excellent electrochemical performances permit VA-C/MoS2 aerogel to be a good candidate for LIBs, and can provide new insights for developing new high-energy materials for energy storage applications.