Borophene as Conductive Additive to Boost the Performance of MoS₂‑Based Anode Materials

Carbon-based materials, including graphene, porous carbon, and nanotubes, have been widely used as conductive additives to reduce the resistance in semiconductive anode materials of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) toward better performance and the alleviated battery overheat problem. However, these additives are usually denounced for their low lithium-ion capacity. Moreover, emergence of vacant defect and heteroatom incorporation would open a sizable energy gap accompanied by reduced conductance. Here, by selecting MoS₂ as a prototype system, we proclaim the utilization of emerging borophene as the conductive additive in terms of its low ion-transport barrier and robust metallic conductivity against defects and external doping in addition to its high Li-storage capacity. We found that substantial electrons transfer from MoS₂ to borophene, producing strong electronic coupling that conduces to favorable interface bonding in combination with improved Li affinity. Incorporation of borophene also compensates the poor mechanical property of MoS₂ with increased elastic modulus, ensuring the electrode integrity against pulverization. Furthermore, B/MoS₂ can achieve a maximum Li-storage capacity of 539 mAh/g along with low ion-hopping barriers inherited from its counterparts. Our work brings new opportunities to boost the electrochemical performance of semiconductive anode materials with borophene for LIBs