Cation-adsorption-assisted Ni3S2/carbon nanowalls composites with three-dimensional interconnected porous structures for high-performance lithium-ion battery anodes

Metal sulfide/carbon composite reveals to be a prospective electrode material for lithium-ion batteries due to the synergy of the two components, and their structure greatly determines the electrochemical performance. We herein have successfully fabricated an in situ encapsulation of Ni3S2 nanoparticles into carbon nanowalls (Ni3S2/CNWs) with three-dimensional interconnected porous structures, which are synthesized assisted by cation adsorption and following hydrothermal process. The abundant mesoporous carbon nanowalls are used as both conductive matrix and protective layer to alleviate the volume change of Ni3S2. Benefiting from the superior theoretical capacity of Ni3S2 and unique structure of CNWs, Ni3S2/CNWs-1 anodes show the high discharge capacity of 906 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1 after cycling 200 times, outstanding rate capacity of 567 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1 and super-long cycling life of 666 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after cycling 1000 times. More importantly, the button-type full cells based on Ni3S2/CNWs-1 anodes and LiFePO4 cathodes present excellent cycling stability and practicality.