Heterostructures Stimulate Electric‐Field to Facilitate Optimal Zn<sup>2+</sup> Intercalation in MoS<sub>2</sub> Cathode
Xincheng Yao, Chenglin Li, Ran Xiao, Jieqiong Li, Hao Yang, Jianqiu Deng, Muhammad‐Sadeeq Balogun
Abstract
Abstract The electric‐field effect is an important factor to enhance the charge diffusion and transfer kinetics of interfacial electrode materials. Herein, by designing a heterojunction, the influence of the electric‐field effect on the kinetics of the MoS 2 as cathode materials for aqueous Zn‐ion batteries (AZIBs) is deeply investigated. The hybrid heterojunction is developed by hydrothermal growth of MoS 2 nanosheets on robust titanium‐based transition metal compound ([titanium nitride, TiN] and [titanium oxide, TiO 2 ]) nanowires, denoted TNC@MoS 2 and TOC@MoS 2 NWS, respectively. Benefiting from the heterostructure architecture and electric‐field effect, the TNC@MoS 2 electrodes exhibit an impressive rate performance of 200 mAh g −1 at 50 mA g −1 and cycling stability over 3000 cycles. Theoretical studies reveal that the hybrid architecture exhibits a large‐scale electric‐field effect at the interface between TiN and MoS 2 , enhances the adsorption energy of Zn‐ions, and increases their charge transfer, which leads to accelerated diffusion kinetics. In addition, the electric‐field effect can also be effectively applied to TiO 2 and MoS 2 , confirming that the concept of heterostructures stimulating electric‐field can provide a relevant understanding for the architecture of other cathode materials for AZIBs and beyond.