A facile synthesis of MoS₂/g-C₃N₄ composite as an anode material with improved lithium storage capacity

The demand for well-designed nanostructured composites with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion batteries electrode materials has been emerging. In order to improve the electrochemical performance of MoS₂-based anode materials, MoS₂ nanosheets integrated with g-C₃N₄ (MoS₂/g-C₃N₄ composite) was synthesized by a facile heating treatment from the precursors of thiourea and sodium molybdate at 550 °C under N₂ gas flow. The structure and composition of MoS₂/g-C₃N₄ were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and elemental analysis. The lithium storage capability of the MoS₂/g-C₃N₄ composite was evaluated, indicating high capacity and stable cycling performance at 1 C (A·g^-1) with a reversible capacity of 1204 mA·h·g^-1 for 200 cycles. This result is believed the role of g-C₃N₄ as a supporting material to accommodate the volume change and improve charge transport for nanostructured MoS₂. Additionally, the contribution of the pseudocapacitive effect was also calculated to further clarify the enhancement in Li-ion storage performance of the composite.