Synthesis and lithium storage properties of MoS₂ nanoparticles prepared using supercritical ethanol

Nanostructured MoS₂ particles were synthesized in a very short reaction time of 10min via a simple supercritical ethanol route for prospective application as an anode material for lithium ion batteries. The as-synthesized MoS₂ nanoparticles had a randomly oriented nanoplate structure with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 67.7m²g^-1 and a porosity of 59.6%. The as-synthesized samples were subjected to calcination at various temperatures in the range of 500-800°C under H₂S/Ar and evaluated for use as anode materials in Li ion batteries. Increasing the calcination temperature from 500 to 800°C led to a decrease of the interlayer distance from 0.68 to 0.61nm and a decrease of the BET surface area from 44.8 to 7.53m²g^-1. The samples calcined at low temperature delivered larger initial capacities (977-1342mAhg^-1), while the samples calcined at high temperature exhibited better cycling performance and higher first coulombic efficiency (86-89%). MoS₂ calcined at 700 and 800°C gave rise to reversible discharge capacities of 754 and 818mAhg^-1 at 100mAg^-1, respectively, without the use of composite structures or carbonaceous supports.