Synthesis of novel molybdenum chalcogenides

Recently, there has been substantial interest in using molybdenum chalcogenides as active cathodes in lithium batteries. It has been observed that the structural make-up of the material (crystalline or amorphous) is often of critical importance in the ability of the compound to intercalate lithium. We have directly synthesized molybdenum chalcogenides with different molybdenum/chalcogen stoichiometries by reacting various molybdenum halides with hexamethyldisilthiane. The resulting sulfides have been intercalated by using n-butyl lithium, and show high lithium uptake. Initial electrochemical measurements show that 3LiMo may be reversibly discharged in our MoS3.