Electrochemical construction and sodium storage performance of three-dimensional porous self-supported MoS₂ electrodes

Three-dimensional (3D) porous self-supported MoS 2 electrodes are constructed by electrodepositing coupled with high-temperature heat treatment using 3D porous Cu prepared via electroless plating as the substrate, and directly used as anode of sodium-ion battery. The 3D porous structure can accommodate the volumetric expansion/shrinkage and alleviate the stress caused from the large volumetric changes of MoS 2 electrodes during electrochemical cycling. Meanwhile, large surface area of this unique configuration enables sufficient electrode/electrolyte interaction and fast electron transportation. Besides, the influence of heat treatment temperatures on the sodium storage performance of MoS 2 electrode is also investigated. The electrochemical test result shows that the 3D porous self-supported MoS 2 electrode heat treated at 350[Formula: see text]C has the best electrochemical performance. It demonstrates a high first reversible capacity of 714.1[Formula: see text]mAh g[Formula: see text] at 50[Formula: see text]mA g[Formula: see text] with a high first Coulombic efficiency of 84%, and a good capacity retention of 306.8[Formula: see text]mAh g[Formula: see text] after 100 cycles at 2[Formula: see text]A g[Formula: see text]. The reversible capacity at 3.2[Formula: see text]A g[Formula: see text] shows high value of 241[Formula: see text]mAh g[Formula: see text], which is 37% of that at 0.05[Formula: see text]A g[Formula: see text].