Improved Energy Storage Performance of N-Doped Hollow Mesoporous Carbon Spheres as Substrate for MoS₂

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is a transition metal sulfide material with a two-dimensional layered structure. It is viewed as a hopeful electrode material of energy storing devices. However, the poor rate performance and cyclic stability, rapid capacity decay and high electrical resistance affect the application of MoS₂ in energy storage. In this study, N-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres (HMCs) coated with flower-like MoS₂ (N-MoS₂/C) and flower-like MoS₂ coated with N-doped HMCs (N-C/MoS₂) were prepared by adopting hydrothermal treatment. As electrodes of supercapacitors, N-MoS₂/C and N-C/MoS₂ nanocomposites delivered 187.2 and 286.3 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 and reserved 90.2% and 95.6% of initial values after 5000 cycles. The results suggest that the hollow mesoporous carbon spheres as substrate can facilitate ions and charges transport and mitigate collapse phenomena of MoS₂ during cycling process. Meanwhile, the N-doping can provide lots of active sites for electrochemical reaction, enhancing energy storage capacity. The nanocomposites prepared in this approach demonstrate a wide range of applications in energy storage filed.