Carbonized Polymer Dots for Controlling Construction of MoS₂ Flower-Like Nanospheres to Achieve High-Performance Li/Na Storage Devices

Despite being one of the most promising materials in anode materials, molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) encounters certain obstacles, such as inadequate cycle stability, low conductivity, and unsatisfactory charge-discharge (CD) rate performance. In this study, a novel approach is employed to address the drawbacks of MoS2. Carbon polymer dots (CPDs) are incorporated to prepare three-dimensional (3D) nanoflower-like spheres of MoS2@CPDs through the self-assembly of MoS2 2D nanosheets, followed by annealing at 700 degrees C. The CPDs play a main role in the creation of the nanoflower-like spheres and also mitigate the MoS2 nanosheet limitations. The nanoflower-like spheres minimize volume changes during cycling and improve the rate performance, leading to exceptional rate performance and cycling stability in both Lithium-ion and Sodium-ion batteries (LIBs and SIBs). The optimized MoS2@CPDs-2 electrode achieves a superb capacity of 583.4 mA h g(-1) at high current density (5 A g(-1)) after 1000 cycles in LIBs, and the capacity remaining of 302.8 mA h g(-1) after 500 cycles at 5 A g(-1) in SIBs. Additionally, the full cell of LIBs/SIBs exhibits high capacity and good cycling stability, demonstrating its potential for practical application in fast-charging and high-energy storage.