Petal-like MoS₂ Nanosheets Space-Confined in Hollow Mesoporous Carbon Spheres for Enhanced Lithium Storage Performance

An innovative approach for efficient synthesis of petal-like molybdenum disulfide nanosheets inside hollow mesoporous carbon spheres (HMCSs), the yolk–shell structured MoS 2 @C, has been developed. HMCSs effectively control and confine in situ growth of MoS 2 nanosheets and significantly improve the conductivity and structural stability of the hybrid material. The yolk–shell structured MoS 2 @C is proven to achieve high reversible capacity (993 mA h g –1 at 1 A g –1 after 200 cycles), superior rate capability (595 mA h g –1 at a current density of 10 A g –1 ), and excellent cycle performance (962 mA h g –1 at 1 A g –1 after 1000 cycles and 624 mA h g –1 at 5 A g –1 after 400 cycles) when evaluated as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. This superior performance is attributed to the yolk–shell structure with conductive mesoporous carbon as the shell and the stack of two-dimensional MoS 2 nanosheets as the yolk.