High Areal Capacitance for Lithium Ion Storage Achieved by a Hierarchical Carbon/MoS₂ Aerogel with Vertically Aligned Pores

Developing high energy density electrode materials is of great importance for the practical applications of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Here, an integrated vertically aligned carbon/MoS 2 aerogel (VA-C/MoS 2 ) with oriented pores has been developed. Vertically aligned pores ensure fast transportation of electrons and rapid penetration of electrolyte, meanwhile decreasing the transfer resistance of ions in this VA-C/MoS 2 anode. The good electrical conductivity of three-dimensional (3D) carbon matrix with interconnected microstructures, coupling with the homogeneously anchored MoS 2 nanoflakes, promotes that all the active sites of MoS 2 can be exploited during the electrochemical process. Due to these structural features of the VA-C/MoS 2 aerogel, an excellent specific capacity of 1089 mAh/g, a high rate capability, and a long-term cycling stability up to 1000 cycles have been simultaneously achieved. Importantly, the areal capacity achieved by VA-C/MoS 2 aerogel (12.4 mAh/cm 2 ) based on a high mass loading of MoS 2 (16 mg/cm 2 ) is a 10-fold increase compared with the result of pure MoS 2 aggregations (1.24 mAh/cm 2 ). These structural advantages and the excellent electrochemical performances permit VA-C/MoS 2 aerogel to be a good candidate for LIBs, and can provide new insights for developing new high-energy materials for energy storage applications.