Toward High Performance Thiophene‐Containing Conjugated Microporous Polymer Anodes for Lithium‐Ion Batteries through Structure Design

Poly(thiophene) as a kind of n‐doped conjugated polymer with reversible redox behavior can be employed as anode material for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, the low redox activity and poor rate performance for the poly(thiophene)‐based anodes limit its further development. Herein, a structure‐design strategy is reported for thiophene‐containing conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) with extraordinary electrochemical performance as anode materials in LIBs. The comparative study on the electrochemical performance of the structure‐designed thiophene‐containing CMPs reveals that high redox‐active thiophene content, highly crosslinked porous structure, and improved surface area play significant roles for enhancing electrochemical performances of the resulting CMPs. The all‐thiophene‐based polymer of poly(3,3′‐bithiophene) with crosslinked structure and a high surface area of 696 m² g^?1 exhibits a discharge capacity of as high as 1215 mAh g^?1 at 45 mA g^?1, excellent rate capability, and outstanding cycling stability with a capacity retention of 663 mAh g^?1 at 500 mA g^?1 after 1000 cycles. The structure–performance relationships revealed in this work offer a fundamental understanding in the rational design of CMPs anode materials for high performance LIBs.     

Heteroatom (N or N‐S)‐Doping Induced Layered and Honeycomb Microstructures of Porous Carbons for CO2 Capture and Energy Applications

Increasing global challenges such as climate change, environmental pollution, and energy shortage have stimulated the worldwide explorations into novel and clean materials for their applications in the capture of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, and toxic pollutants, energy conversion, and storage. In this study, two microstructured carbons, namely N‐doped pillaring layered carbon (NC) and N, S codoped honeycomb carbon (NSC), have been fabricated through a one‐pot pyrolysis process of a mixture containing glucose, sodium bicarbonate, and urea or thiourea. The heteroatom doping is found to induce tailored microstructures featuring highly interconnected pore frameworks, high sp²‐C ratios, and high surface areas. The formation mechanism of the varying pore frameworks is believed to be hydrogen‐bond interactions. NSC displays a similar CO₂ adsorption capacity (4.7 mmol g^?1 at 0 °C), a better CO₂/N₂ selectivity, and higher activity in oxygen reduction reaction as compared with NC‐3 (the NC sample with the highest N content of 7.3%). NSC favors an efficient four‐electron reduction pathway and presents better methanol tolerance than Pt/C in alkaline media. The porous carbons also exhibit excellent rate performance as supercapacitors.     

N‐Doping and Defective Nanographitic Domain Coupled Hard Carbon Nanoshells for High Performance Lithium/Sodium Storage

Hard carbons (HCs) possess high lithium/sodium storage capacities, which however suffer from low electric conductivity and poor ion diffusion kinetics. An efficient structure design with appropriate heteroatoms doping and optimized graphitic/defective degree is highly desired to tackle these problems. This work reports a new design of N‐doped HC nanoshells (N‐GCNs) with homogeneous defective nanographite domains, fabricated through the prechelation between Ni²⁺ and chitosan and subsequent catalyst confined graphitization. The as‐prepared N‐GCNs deliver a high reversible lithium storage capacity of 1253 mA h g^?1, with outstanding rate performance (175 mA h g^?1 at a high rate of 20 A g^?1) and good cycling stability, which outperforms most state‐of‐the‐art HCs. Meanwhile, a high reversible sodium storage capacity of 325 mA h g^?1 is also obtained, which stabilizes at 174 mA h g^?1 after 200 cycles. Density functional theory calculations are performed to uncover the coupling effect between heteroatom‐doping and the defective nanographitic domains down to the atomic scale. The in situ Raman analysis reveals the “adsorption mechanism” for sodium storage and the “adsorption–intercalation mechanism” for lithium storage of N‐GCNs.     

N‐Doped Polypyrrole‐Based Porous Carbons for CO2 Capture

Highly porous N‐doped carbons have been successfully prepared by using KOH as activating agent and polypyrrole (PPy) as carbon precursor. These materials were investigated as sorbents for CO₂ capture. The activation process was carried out under severe (KOH/PPy = 4) or mild (KOH/PPy = 2) activation conditions at different temperatures in the 600–800 °C range. Mildly activated carbons have two important characteristics: i) they contain a large number of nitrogen functional groups (up to 10.1 wt% N) identified as pyridonic‐N with a small proportion of pyridinic‐N groups, and ii) they exhibit, in relation to the carbons prepared with KOH/PPy = 4, narrower micropore sizes. The combination of both of these properties explains the large CO₂ adsorption capacities of mildly activated carbon. In particular, a very high CO₂ adsorption uptake of 6.2 mmol·g^?1 (0 °C) was achieved for porous carbons prepared with KOH/PPy = 2 and 600 °C (1700 m²·g^?1, pore size ≈ 1 nm and 10.1 wt% N). Furthermore, we observed that these porous carbons exhibit high CO₂ adsorption rates, a good selectivity for CO₂‐N₂ separation and it can be easily regenerated.     

A Controllable Synthesis of Rich Nitrogen‐Doped Ordered Mesoporous Carbon for CO2 Capture and Supercapacitors

A controllable one‐pot method to synthesize N‐doped ordered mesoporous carbons (NMC) with a high N content by using dicyandiamide as a nitrogen source via an evaporation‐induced self‐assembly process is reported. In this synthesis, resol molecules can bridge the Pluronic F127 template and dicyandiamide via hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. During thermosetting at 100 °C for formation of rigid phenolic resin and subsequent pyrolysis at 600 °C for carbonization, dicyandiamide provides closed N species while resol can form a stable framework, thus ensuring the successful synthesis of ordered N‐doped mesoporous carbon. The obtained N‐doped ordered mesoporous carbons possess tunable mesostructures (p6m and Im m symmetry) and pore size (3.1–17.6 nm), high surface area (494–586 m² g^?1), and high N content (up to 13.1 wt%). Ascribed to the unique feature of large surface area and high N contents, NMC materials show high CO₂ capture of 2.8–3.2 mmol g^?1 at 298 K and 1.0 bar, and exhibit good performance as the supercapacitor electrode with specific capacitances of 262 F g^?1 (in 1 M H₂SO₄) and 227 F g^?1 (in 6 M KOH) at a current density of 0.2 A g^?1.     

Sulfur‐Enriched Conjugated Polymer Nanosheet Derived Sulfur and Nitrogen co‐Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Zinc–Air Battery

Among the rising 2D soft materials, conjugated polymer nanosheets are one of the most promising and new classes of polymeric materials, which are rarely developed because of the challenge in controlling the dimensionality and lack of synthetic strategies. In this study, one kind of sulfur‐enriched conjugated polymer nanosheet (2DP‐S) with a high aspect ratio of up to ≈400 is successfully synthesized. On the basis of structural characterization, as‐prepared 2DP‐S possesses the chemical identity of cruciform‐fused polymeric backbone consisting of quinoidal polythiophene and poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) along horizontal and vertical directions, respectively, by sharing two alternating single–double carbon–carbon bonds in each repeat unit. The unique structural conformation of 2DP‐S renders carrier mobilities of up to 0.1 ± 0.05 cm² V^?1 s^?1, a figure inferred from Terahertz time domain spectroscopy. Moreover, upon thermal treatment, 2DP‐S is readily converted into N/S dual‐doped porous carbon nanosheets (2DPCs) under ammonia atmosphere, whose N/S ratio can be rationally controlled by adjusting the activation time. The catalytic performance of the oxygen reduction reaction of as‐prepared 2DPCs is well tunable by the rationally controlled N/S contents. These results offer a new pathway for exploring heteroatom‐doped porous carbons applicable for energy conversion and storage.     

Oxidation‐Resistant and Elastic Mesoporous Carbon with Single‐Layer Graphene Walls

An oxidation‐resistant and elastic mesoporous carbon, graphene mesosponge (GMS), is prepared. GMS has a sponge‐like mesoporous framework (mean pore size is 5.8 nm) consisting mostly of single‐layer graphene walls, which realizes a high electric conductivity and a large surface area (1940 m² g^?1). Moreover, the graphene‐based framework includes only a very small amount of edge sites, thereby achieving much higher stability against oxidation than conventional porous carbons such as carbon blacks and activated carbons. Thus, GMS can simultaneously possess seemingly incompatible properties; the advantages of graphitized carbon materials (high conductivity and high oxidation resistance) and porous carbons (large surface area). These unique features allow GMS to exhibit a sufficient capacitance (125 F g^?1), wide potential window (4 V), and good rate capability as an electrode material for electric double‐layer capacitors utilizing an organic electrolyte. Hence, GMS achieves a high energy density of 59.3 Wh kg^?1 (material mass base), which is more than twice that of commercial materials. Moreover, the continuous graphene framework makes GMS mechanically tough and extremely elastic, and its mean pore size (5.8 nm) can be reversibly compressed down to 0.7 nm by simply applying mechanical force. The sponge‐like elastic property enables an advanced force‐induced adsorption control.     

3D Carbon Nanotube Network Bridged Hetero‐Structured Ni‐Fe‐S Nanocubes toward High‐Performance Lithium,Sodium, and Potassium Storage

Lithium‐ion, sodium‐ion, and potassium‐ion batteries have captured tremendous attention in power supplies for various electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. However, their practical applications are severely limited by factors such as poor rate capability, fast capacity decay, sluggish charge storage dynamics, and low reversibility. Herein, hetero‐structured bimetallic sulfide (NiS/FeS) encapsulated in N‐doped porous carbon cubes interconnected with CNTs (Ni‐Fe‐S‐CNT) are prepared through a convenient co‐precipitation and post‐heat treatment sulfurization technique of the corresponding Prussian‐blue analogue nanocage precursor. This special 3D hierarchical structure can offer a stable interconnect and conductive network and shorten the diffusion path of ions, thereby greatly enhancing the mobility efficiency of alkali (Li, Na, K) ions in electrode materials. The Ni‐Fe‐S‐CNT nanocomposite maintains a charge capacity of 1535 mAh g^?1 at 0.2 A g^?1 for lithium ion batteries, 431 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1 for sodium ion batteries, and 181 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1 for potassium‐ion batteries, respectively. The high performance is mainly attributed to the 3D hierarchically high‐conductivity network architecture, in which the hetero‐structured FeS/NiS nanocubes provide fast Li⁺/Na⁺/K⁺ insertion/extraction and reduced ion diffusion paths, and the distinctive 3D networks maintain the electrical contact and guarantee the structural integrity.     

Prolifera‐Green‐Tide as Sustainable Source for Carbonaceous Aerogels with Hierarchical Pore to Achieve Multiple Energy Storage

The increasing demand for efficient energy storage and conversion devices has aroused great interest in designing advanced materials with high specific surface areas, multiple holes, and good conductivity. Here, we report a new method for fabricating a hierarchical porous carbonaceous aerogel (HPCA) from renewable seaweed aerogel. The HPCA possesses high specific surface area of 2200 m² g^?1 and multilevel micro/meso/macropore structures. These important features make HPCA exhibit a reversible lithium storage capacity of 827.1 mAh g^?1 at the current density of 0.1 A g^?1, which is the highest capacity for all the previously reported nonheteroatom‐doped carbon nanomaterials. It also shows high specific capacitance and excellent rate performance for electric double layer capacitors (260.6 F g^?1 at 1 A g^?1 and 190.0 F g^?1 at 50 A g^?1), and long cycle life with 91.7% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at 10 A g^?1. The HPCA also can be used as support to assemble Co₃O₄ nanowires (Co₃O₄@HPCA) for constructing a high performance pseudocapacitor with the maximum specific capacitance of 1167.6 F g^?1 at the current density of 1 A g^?1. The present work highlights the first example in using prolifera‐green‐tide as a sustainable source for developing advanced carbon porous aerogels to achieve multiple energy storage.     

All‐Cellulose‐Based Quasi‐Solid‐State Sodium‐Ion Hybrid Capacitors Enabled by Structural Hierarchy

Na‐ion hybrid capacitors consisting of battery‐type anodes and capacitor‐style cathodes are attracting increasing attention on account of the abundance of sodium‐based resources as well as the potential to bridge the gap between batteries (high energy) and supercapacitors (high power). Herein, hierarchically structured carbon materials inspired by multiscale building units of cellulose from nature are assembled with cellulose‐based gel electrolytes into Na‐ion capacitors. Nonporous hard carbon anodes are obtained through the direct thermal pyrolysis of cellulose nanocrystals. Nitrogen‐doped carbon cathodes with a coral‐like hierarchically porous architecture are prepared via hydrothermal carbonization and activation of cellulose microfibrils. The reversible charge capacity of the anode is 256.9 mAh g^?1 when operating at 0.1 A g^?1 from 0 to 1.5 V versus Na⁺/Na, and the discharge capacitance of cathodes tested within 1.5 to 4.2 V versus Na⁺/Na is 212.4 F g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1. Utilizing Na⁺ and ClO₄^? as charge carriers, the energy density of the full Na‐ion capacitor with two asymmetric carbon electrodes can reach 181 Wh kg^?1 at 250 W kg^?1, which is one of the highest energy devices reported until now. Combined with macrocellulose‐based gel electrolytes, all‐cellulose‐based quasi‐solid‐state devices are demonstrated possessing additional advantages in terms of overall sustainability.     

The Fusion of Imidazolium‐Based Ionic Polymer and Carbon Nanotubes: One Type of New Heteroatom‐Doped Carbon Precursors for High‐Performance Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Rational design of sulfur host materials with high electrical conductivity and strong polysulfides (PS) confinement is indispensable for high‐performance lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries. This study presents one type of new polymer material based on main‐chain imidazolium‐based ionic polymer (ImIP) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs); the polymer composites can serve as a precursor of CNT/NPC‐300, in which close coverage and seamless junction of CNTs by N‐doped porous carbon (NPC) form a 3D conductive network. CNT/NPC‐300 inherits and strengthens the advantages of both high electrical conductivity from CNTs and strong PS entrapping ability from NPC. Benefiting from the improved attributes, the CNT/NPC‐300‐57S electrode shows much higher reversible capacity, rate capability, and cycling stability than NPC‐57S and CNTs‐56S. The initial discharge capacity of 1065 mA h g^?1 is achieved at 0.5 C with the capacity retention of 817 mA h g^?1 over 300 cycles. Importantly, when counter bromide anion in the composite of CNTs and ImIP is metathesized to bis(trifluoromethane sulfonimide), heteroatom sulfur is cooperatively incorporated into the carbon hosts, and the surface area is increased with the promotion of micropore formation, thus further improving electrochemical performance. This provides a new method for optimizing porous properties and dopant components of the cathode materials in Li–S batteries.     

Direct Heating Amino Acids with Silica: A Universal Solvent‐Free Assembly Approach to Highly Nitrogen‐Doped Mesoporous Carbon Materials

A general solvent‐free assembly approach via directly heating amino acid and mesoporous silica mixtures is developed for the synthesis of a family of highly nitrogen‐doped mesoporous carbons. Amino acids have been used as the sole precursors for templating synthesis of a series of ordered mesoporous carbons. During heating, amino acids are melted and strongly interact with silica, leading to effective loading and improved carbon yields (up to ≈25 wt%), thus to successful structure replication and nitrogen‐doping. Unique solvent‐free structure assembly mechanisms are proposed and elucidated semi‐quantitatively by using two affinity scales. Significantly high nitrogen‐doping levels are achieved, up to 9.4 (16.0) wt% via carbonization at 900 (700) °C. The diverse types of amino acids, their variable interactions with silica and different pyrolytic behaviors lead to nitrogen‐doped mesoporous carbons with tunable surface areas (700–1400 m² g^?1), pore volumes (0.9–2.5 cm³ g^?1), pore sizes (4.3–10 nm), and particle sizes from a single template. As demonstrations, the typical nitrogen‐doped carbons show good performance in CO₂ capture with high CO₂/N₂ selectivities up to ≈48. Moreover, they show attractive performance for oxygen reduction reaction, with an onset and a half‐wave potential of ≈?0.06 and ?0.14 V (vs Ag/AgCl).     

Oxygen/Fluorine Dual‐Doped Porous Carbon Nanopolyhedra Enabled Ultrafast and Highly Stable Potassium Storage

Carbon‐based materials are promising anodes for potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs). However, due to the significant volume expansion and structural instability, it is still a challenge to achieve a high capacity, high rate and long cycle life for carbonaceous anodes. Herein, oxygen/fluorine dual‐doped porous carbon nanopolyhedra (OFPCN) is reported for the first time as a novel anode for PIBs, which exhibits a high reversible capacity of 481 mA h g^?1 at 0.05 A g^?1 and excellent performance of 218 mA h g^?1 after 2000 cycles at 1 A g^?1 with 92% capacity retention. Even after 5000 robust cycles at 10 A g^?1 with charging/discharging time of around 40 s, an unprecedented capacity of 111 mA h g^?1 is still maintained. Such ultrafast potassium storage and unprecedented cycling stability have been seldom reported in PIBs. Quantitative kinetics analysis reveals that both diffusion and capacitance processes are involved in the potassium storage mechanism. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the O/F dual‐doped porous carbon promotes the K‐adsorption ability and can absorb multiple K atoms with slight structural distortion, which accounts for the high specific capacity, outstanding rate capability, and excellent cycling stability of the OFPCN anode.     

Unconventional Carbon: Alkaline Dehalogenation of Polymers Yields N‐Doped Carbon Electrode for High‐Performance Capacitive Energy Storage

Polymers are important precursors for the fabrication of carbon materials. Herein, halogenated polymers are explored as precursors for the synthesis of high‐quality carbon materials via alkaline dehalogenation. It is found that the halogen elements (F, Cl) connecting to vinylidene units are highly reactive so that dehalogenation can take place a few seconds at room temperature by simple hand grinding in the presence of strong inorganic alkaline. Furthermore, the halogen element‐leaving sites are shown to be susceptible to heteroatom doping (e.g., N doping) to become stable capacitive sites for charge storage (e.g., ions). By using a mixture of NaOEt and KOH as dehalogenation reagents, abundant hierarchical pores (macro/meso/micropores) in the resultant doped carbon matrix for fast mass transportation can be created. Very high capacitance (328 F g^?1 at 0.5 A g^?1) and rate capability (75.3% retention at 50 A g^?1 and 62.5% retention at 100 A g^?1) are observed for the newly developed halogenated polymer‐derived doped carbon materials.     

Boosting the Electrical Double‐Layer Capacitance of Graphene by Self‐Doped Defects through Ball‐Milling

Improving the capacitance of carbon materials for supercapacitors without sacrificing their rate performance, especially volumetric capacitance at high mass loadings, is a big challenge because of the limited assessable surface area and sluggish electrochemical kinetics of the pseudocapacitive reactions. Here, it is demonstrated that “self‐doping” defects in carbon materials can contribute to additional capacitance with an electrical double‐layer behavior, thus promoting a significant increase in the specific capacitance. As an exemplification, a novel defect‐enriched graphene block with a low specific surface area of 29.7 m² g^?1 and high packing density of 0.917 g cm^?3 performs high gravimetric, volumetric, and areal capacitances of 235 F g^?1, 215 F cm^?3, and 3.95 F cm^?2 (mass loading of 22 mg cm^?2) at 1 A g^?1, respectively, as well as outstanding rate performance. The resulting specific areal capacitance reaches an ultrahigh value of 7.91 F m^?2 including a “self‐doping” defect contribution of 4.81 F m^?2, which is dramatically higher than the theoretical capacitance of graphene (0.21 F m^?2) and most of the reported carbon‐based materials. Therefore, the defect engineering route broadens the avenue to further improve the capacitive performance of carbon materials, especially for compact energy storage under limited surface areas.     

Bifunctional MOF‐Derived Carbon Photonic Crystal Architectures for Advanced Zn–Air and Li–S Batteries: Highly Exposed Graphitic Nitrogen Matters

Nitrogen‐rich porous carbons (NPCs) are the leading cathode materials for next‐generation Zn–air and Li–S batteries. However, most existing NPC suffers from insufficient exposure and harnessing of nitrogen‐dopants (NDs), constraining the electrochemical performance. Herein, by combining silica templating with in situ texturing of metal–organic frameworks, a new bifunctional 3D nitrogen‐rich carbon photonic crystal architecture of simultaneously record‐high total pore volume (13.42 cm³ g^?1), ultralarge surface area (2546 m² g^?1), and permeable hierarchical macro‐meso‐microporosity is designed, enabling sufficient exposure and accessibility of NDs. Thus, when used as cathode catalysts, the Zn–air battery delivers a fantastic capacity of 770 mAh g_Zn^?1 at an unprecedentedly high rate of 120 mA cm^?2, with an ultrahigh power density of 197 mW cm^?2. When hosting 78 wt% sulfur, the Li–S battery affords a high‐rate capacity of 967 mAh g^?1 at 2 C, with superb stability over 1000 cycles at 0.5 C (0.054% decay rate per cycle), comparable to the best literature value. The results prove the dominant role of highly exposed graphitic‐N in boosting both cathode performances.     

Fast and Large Lithium Storage in 3D Porous VN Nanowires–Graphene Composite as a Superior Anode Toward High‐Performance Hybrid Supercapacitors

Li‐ion hybrid capacitors (LIHCs), consisting of an energy‐type redox anode and a power‐type double‐layer cathode, are attracting significant attention due to the good combination with the advantages of conventional Li‐ion batteries and supercapacitors. However, most anodes are battery‐like materials with the sluggish kinetics of Li‐ion storage, which seriously restrict the energy storage of LIHCs at the high charge/discharge rates. Herein, vanadium nitride (VN) nanowire is demonstated to have obvious pseudocapacitive characteristic of Li‐ion storage and can get further gains in energy storage through a 3D porous architecture with the assistance of conductive reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The as‐prepared 3D VN–RGO composite exhibits the large Li‐ion storage capacity and fast charge/discharge rate within a wide working widow from 0.01–3 V (vs Li/Li⁺), which could potentially boost the operating potential and the energy and power densities of LIHCs. By employing such 3D VN–RGO composite and porous carbon nanorods with a high surface area of 3343 m² g^?1 as the anode and cathode, respectively, a novel LIHCs is fabricated with an ultrahigh energy density of 162 Wh kg^?1 at 200 W kg^?1, which also remains 64 Wh kg^?1 even at a high power density of 10 kW kg^?1.     

FeP Quantum Dots Confined in Carbon‐Nanotube‐Grafted P‐Doped Carbon Octahedra for High‐Rate Sodium Storage and Full‐Cell Applications

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) possess high theoretical sodium storage capacities, but suffer from poor rate performance, due to their intrinsic low conductivity and large volume expansion upon sodiation/desodiation. Compositing TMPs with carbon materials or downsizing their feature size are recognized as efficient approaches to address the above issues. Nevertheless the surface‐controlled capacitive behavior is generally dominated, which inevitably compromises the charge/discharge platform, and decreases the operational potential window in full‐cell constructions. In this work, a novel architecture (FeP@OCF) with FeP quantum dots confined in P‐doped 3D octahedral carbon framework/carbon nanotube is rationally designed. Such structure enables a simultaneous enhancement on the diffusion‐controlled capacity in the platform region (2.3 folds), and the surface‐controlled capacity in the slope region (2.9 folds) as compared to that of pure FeP. As a result, an excellent reversible capacity (674 mAh g^?1@ 0.1 A g^?1) and a record high‐rate performance (262 mAh g^?1 @ 20 A g^?1) are achieved. A full‐cell FeP@OCF// Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ is also constructed showing an outstandingly high energy density of 185 Wh kg^?1 (based on the total mass of active materials in both electrodes), which outperforms the state‐of‐the art TMP‐based sodium‐ion battery full cells.     

3D MoS2–Graphene Microspheres Consisting of Multiple Nanospheres with Superior Sodium Ion Storage Properties

A novel anode material for sodium‐ion batteries consisting of 3D graphene microspheres divided into several tens of uniform nanospheres coated with few‐layered MoS₂ by a one‐pot spray pyrolysis process is prepared. The first discharge/charge capacities of the composite microspheres are 797 and 573 mA h g^?1 at a current density of 0.2 A g^?1. The 600th discharge capacity of the composite microspheres at a current density of 1.5 A g^?1 is 322 mA h g^?1. The Coulombic efficiency during the 600 cycles is as high as 99.98%. The outstanding Na ion storage properties of the 3D MoS₂–graphene composite microspheres may be attributed to the reduced stacking of the MoS₂ layers and to the 3D structure of the porous graphene microspheres. The reduced stacking of the MoS₂ layers relaxes the strain and lowers the barrier for Na⁺ insertion. The empty nanospheres of the graphene offer voids for volume expansion and pathways for fast electron transfer during repeated cycling.     

Enhanced Reversible Sodium‐Ion Intercalation by Synergistic Coupling of Few‐Layered MoS2 and S‐Doped Graphene

Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are regarded as the best alternative to lithium‐ion batteries due to their low cost and similar Na⁺ insertion chemistry. It is still challenging but greatly desired to design and develop novel electrode materials with high reversible capacity, long cycling life, and good rate capability toward high‐performance SIBs. This work demonstrates an innovative design strategy and a development of few‐layered molybdenum disulfide/sulfur‐doped graphene nanosheets (MoS₂/SG) composites as the SIB anode material providing a high specific capacity of 587 mA h g^?1 calculated based on the total composite mass and an extremely long cycling stability over 1000 cycles at a current density of 1.0 A g^?1 with a high capacity retention of ≈85%. Systematic characterizations reveal that the outstanding performance is mainly attributed to the unique and robust composite architecture where few‐layered MoS₂ and S‐doped graphene are intimately bridged at the hetero‐interface through a synergistic coupling effect via the covalently doped S atoms. The design strategy and mechanism understanding at the molecular level outlined here can be readily applied to other layered transition metal oxides for SIBs anode and play a key role in contributing to the development of high‐performance SIBs.