Chalcocarbogels as High-Capacity and Cycle-Stable Electrode Materials for Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries
Taohedul Islam, Mengya Li, Alicia Blanton, Kathryn A. Pitton, K.R.P.M. Rao, Sahar Bayat, Kamila M. Wiaderek, Misganaw Adigo Weret, Subrata Chandra Roy, Renfei Feng, Dien Li, Robiul Alam, Jing Nie, Oluwaseun Oketola, Avijit Pramanik, Beth S. Guiton, Chad Risko, Ilias Belharouak, Ruhul Amin, Saiful M. Islam
Abstract
The low capacities of commercial Li ion batteries and cycle instabilities of amorphous metal sulfide based batteries impose constraints on their utilization for large-scale energy storage. We report here the acid-free, room-temperature (RT), and solution-based synthesis of a chalcogenide–carbonaceous hybrid aerogel, termed as “chalcocarbogel”, comprising molybdenum sulfide (MoS x ) and graphene oxide (GO). The chalcocarbogel is a nanoparticle-aggregated, porous, amorphous gel consisting of Mo 3 S 13 and Mo 2 S 12 -like structures as determined by synchrotron X-ray PDF, XANES, and EXAFS. The MoS x -GO chalcocarbogel demonstrates high specific capacities of ∼1215 and ∼807 mAh g –1 for Li/MoS x -GO and Na/MoS x -GO cells, respectively, for a 50 mAg –1 discharge rate during the first cycle. After the activation cycles, the MoS x -GO chalcocarbogel stabilizes, maintaining high specific capacities of approximately ∼700 mAh g –1 for Li/MoS x -GO and ∼473 mAh g –1 for Na/MoS x -GO cells, while continuously cycling. The MoS x -GO aerogel reported here serves as a promising platform to develop chalcocarbogels for applications spanning both Li and Na ion batteries.